BELTWAY CONFIDENTIALPolitics from the Nation's Capital
Europe starts confiscating private pension fundsBy: Mark Hemingway 01/03/11 2:22 PM
The U.S. isn't the only place that's facing a major pension fund crisis.
People's retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that
don't want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are
organised by the state, European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings
accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends.
In recent weeks I have noted five such attempts: Three situations concern private personal savings;
two others refer to national funds.
The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer
they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose
the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this
extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.
The article goes on to detail other pension grabs in Bulgaria, Poland, France and Ireland. Obviously,
this is a cautionary tale for America. If fiscal austerity becomes a real issue in the U.S. the way that
it's been reaching critical mass in Europe -- don't think that U.S. lawmakers regard your either your
personal wealth or money they might owe you as sacrosanct. Government has a habit of looking out for itself.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/europe-starts-confiscating-private-pension-funds
