CEPA Conference on "Pension Fund Capitalism and the Crisis of Old-Age Security in the United States," September 10-11 The Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) is organizing a two-day conference on “Pension Fund Capitalism and the Crisis of Old-Age Security in the United States” to be held at the New School University in New York on September 10-11, 2004. The conference will explore the themes and issues raised by Robin Blackburn’s recent book, Banking on Death or Investing in Life (Verso, 2002). The conference will begin at 8:30am on Friday, September 10 and end at 5:45pm on Saturday, September 11. It will take place in the Wolff Conference Room, 65 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York and is open to a limited public audience. If you want to attend the conference, please send an RSVP to pensionconference at cepa.net.
The purpose of the conference is to deepen our understanding of the role of private pensions in the U.S. economy. Its specific aim is to bring progressives – economists, political scientists and sociologists, union representatives, shareholder activists, lawyers, and sympathetic members of the money management industry – together to look at current problems in pension provision and to come up with alternatives. The goal of the conference will be to generate new, original thinking about pension provision and pension reform.
The conference aims to test three propositions. First, that the existing commercial provision of pensions offers a window into crucial relationships in today's financial regime and hence deserves more systematic and critical study in its own right. Second, that the prevailing mix of public and private programs will not be adequate to furnish a decent retirement income to every American. Third, that in order to reach this goal it will be necessary both to find new sources of finance and to introduce real accountability into the existing pension and mutual fund industry.
This conference is made possible by a generous grant from Irene and Bernard L. Schwartz under CEPA’s Program in Markets, Equality, and Democracy Program.
Tentative Schedule:
Friday, September 10, 2004
8:30am: Opening remarks:<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀䇶࠘͵쀳櫃䝎?䂋쌄?藿࿀㦅ዅ㌀쏀䟨ǟ蔀࿀粄ቤ謀袀>
Bob Kerrey, President, New School University, Ben Lee, Dean, Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, New School University
9:00am: Keynote Address:
Robin Blackburn, New School University
10:30am: Coffee break
10:45am: Theoretical Considerations:<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀䇶࠘͵쀳櫃䝎?䂋쌄?藿࿀㦅ዅ㌀쏀䟨ǟ蔀࿀粄ቤ謀袀>
Gerard Dumenil, MODEM, University Paris X-Nanterre, “Trends in Capital Ownership and Income”
Frederic Lordon, CEPREMAP, “Managers in the Hands of Investors: Where Does ‘The Power of Finance’ Really Come From?”
Tom Michl, Colgate College, “Capitalist, Workers, Social Security”
12:45pm: Lunch
2:00pm: Macroeconomic Considerations:<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀䇶࠘͵쀳櫃䝎?䂋쌄?藿࿀㦅ዅ㌀쏀䟨ǟ蔀࿀粄ቤ謀袀>
Jane D'Arista, New School University, “Pension Funds: The Need for a Macroprudential Framework”
John Eatwell, Cambridge University, “Pensions, Fiscal Policy, and the Distribution of Risk”
Christian Weller, American Progress Institute, “Institutional Shareholder Concentration, Corporate Governance Changes, and Diverging Fortunes of Capital and Labor”
4:00pm: Coffee break
4:15pm: Financial Market Considerations:<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀䇶࠘͵쀳櫃䝎?䂋쌄?藿࿀㦅ዅ㌀쏀䟨ǟ蔀࿀粄ቤ謀袀>
Randall Dodd, Financial Policy Forum, “Pension Fund Capitalism: The Need for Derivatives and Hedge Fund Regulation”
Tessa Hebb, Oxford University, “Global Standards and Emerging Markets: the institutional investment value chain and CalPERS' investment strategy”
5:45pm: Wine/cheese
Saturday, September 11, 2004
9:00am: Pensions and Retirement:<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀䇶࠘͵쀳櫃䝎?䂋쌄?藿࿀㦅ዅ㌀쏀䟨ǟ蔀࿀粄ቤ謀袀>
Teresa Ghilarducci, Notre Dame University, “Employer Pension Reform and the Future of Retirement”
Edward Wolff, New York University, “The Unraveling of the American Pension System, 1983-2001”
10:30am: Coffee break
10:45am: Pension Fund Socialism:<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀䇶࠘͵쀳櫃䝎?䂋쌄?藿࿀㦅ዅ㌀쏀䟨ǟ蔀࿀粄ቤ謀袀>
David Brennan, Franklin and Marshall College, “‘Fiduciary Capitalism,’ the Political Model of Corporate Governance, and the Prospect of Stakeholder Capitalism in the US”
Doug Henwood, Left Business Observer, “Pension Fund Socialism: an Illusion that Just Won't Die”
Jim Stanford, Canadian Automobile Workers Union, "Controlling Pensions or Controlling Capital?"
12:45pm: Lunch
2:00pm: Encounters with History and Reform:
Mark Harvey, University of Manchester, “The Historical Formation of Resources, Rights, and Rights-Holders: The Example of Pensions
Matthieu Leimgruber, University of Lausanne, “A Closer Look at the World Bank Model: Unpacking the Swiss Three-Pillar Pension System”
3:30pm Coffee break
3:45pm: General Discussion directed by Robin Blackburn
5:45pm: End of conference