Monday, June 06, 2005
Looting the Pension Fund Part 2: Paying for the 80s
Looting the Pension Fund - W's MBA Training Follows Industry Standards discussed how pension fund managers routinely looted pension funds during the 1980s to fund the big corporate takeover craze. That lunacy helped set the stage for the mega-salaries commanded by today's corporate officers. After all, they said, look how well we're hitting our projected earnings! We deserve higher salaries because we're adding value!
It turns out these folks were making money the old fashioned way - by stealing it:
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It turns out these folks were making money the old fashioned way - by stealing it:
Loopholes in the federal pension law allowed United Airlines to treat its pension fund as solid for years, when in fact it was dangerously weakening...Where was ObviousMan when we needed him?
A second report, by the comptroller general, found that most companies that operate pension funds are using the same loopholes. Those loopholes give companies ways - all perfectly legal - to make their pension plans look healthier than they really are, reducing the amount of money the companies must contribute.
Source: New York Times Pension Loopholes Helped United Hide Troubles June 7, 2005. [Emphasis added.])
