The Pain and Possibility of Pensions
A roundtable discussion with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, CalPERS board member and SEIU Local 521 President Mullissa Willette and Evan Sutton of #TeslaTakedown.
Pensions are often overlooked, but they play a significant role in shaping the economy. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the country, manages approximately $575 billion in assets. In New York City, five pension funds hold more than $295 billion in assets, making them major institutional investors.
As
pensions are designed to protect workers from an uncertain future, but their investments can have contradictory effects, such as undermining jobs or accelerating the climate crisis.
Author's summary: Pensions hold significant power and contradictions in the economy.