"[I]t is undeniable that there are now an uncomfortably small number of uncomfortably large players in the fund-management and private-equity branches of American finance, in addition to our too-big-to-fail super big banks"
My own preferred solution to this is for us to have a sovereign wealth fund, so we get government officials who are …
"[I]t is undeniable that there are now an uncomfortably small number of uncomfortably large players in the fund-management and private-equity branches of American finance, in addition to our too-big-to-fail super big banks"
My own preferred solution to this is for us to have a sovereign wealth fund, so we get government officials who are accountable to the Treasury Department and to Congress overseeing the fund managers directly. (This comes with its own suite of problems around political influence, but I at least hope these would be better than the current problems where fund managers are basically not accountable at all.)
Do an _add-on_ to Social Security -- not the carve out that Bush the Younger proposed -- where we give everyone an account that invests in target-date tranches of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, accessible through postal banking. The cash part of the account is usable for basic checking, receiving direct deposits, etc. So we've resolved the problem of "the unbanked" along the way, and created a receiving point for various government cash benefits, including "helicopter drops" in future recessions.
Fund young people's accounts with Cory Booker's "baby bonds" concept, defaulted into a tranche that "matures" (i.e. the asset mix reaches a conservative blend to preserve the money) around when they turn 22. They can withdraw from that for continuing higher ed, or for a real estate purchase, or for a business investment.
Also default everyone into putting some slice of their paycheck into a tranche that matures when they turn 65. Encourage companies to start moving away from the boondoggle of the 401k system with its exorbitant fees, in favor of just using the SWF. (It may well be that the SWF farms money out to many of the same fund managers, but because of its size it will at least in theory be able to drive a much harder bargain.)
"[I]t is undeniable that there are now an uncomfortably small number of uncomfortably large players in the fund-management and private-equity branches of American finance, in addition to our too-big-to-fail super big banks"
My own preferred solution to this is for us to have a sovereign wealth fund, so we get government officials who are accountable to the Treasury Department and to Congress overseeing the fund managers directly. (This comes with its own suite of problems around political influence, but I at least hope these would be better than the current problems where fund managers are basically not accountable at all.)
Do an _add-on_ to Social Security -- not the carve out that Bush the Younger proposed -- where we give everyone an account that invests in target-date tranches of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, accessible through postal banking. The cash part of the account is usable for basic checking, receiving direct deposits, etc. So we've resolved the problem of "the unbanked" along the way, and created a receiving point for various government cash benefits, including "helicopter drops" in future recessions.
Fund young people's accounts with Cory Booker's "baby bonds" concept, defaulted into a tranche that "matures" (i.e. the asset mix reaches a conservative blend to preserve the money) around when they turn 22. They can withdraw from that for continuing higher ed, or for a real estate purchase, or for a business investment.
Also default everyone into putting some slice of their paycheck into a tranche that matures when they turn 65. Encourage companies to start moving away from the boondoggle of the 401k system with its exorbitant fees, in favor of just using the SWF. (It may well be that the SWF farms money out to many of the same fund managers, but because of its size it will at least in theory be able to drive a much harder bargain.)