> Instead of the old European way of a public, universally funded rolling pension scheme (aka current workers pay for the pensions of the current pensioners in

> Instead of the old European way of a public, universally funded rolling pension scheme (aka current workers pay for the pensions of the current pensioners in exchange for credits), the US went for almost pure stock and other IOU-based (e.g. bonds) pension funds What? The US absolutely has a public, universally funded pension plan: Social Security. Its the one of the largest government expenses.