Friday, February 04, 2005

Pension Privatization Results in Chile

As promised earlier, here is the article from the Times about the results of privatization in Chile. If you happen to check this link after the article can no longer be read free of charge, I can send you the text in a Word file.

Essentially, the article finds that the system has been an economic success from the standpoint of the national economy. However, here's a key passage:

* "What we have is a system that is good for Chile but bad for most Chileans," said a government official who specializes in pension issues and who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from corporate interests. "If people really had freedom of choice, 90 percent of them would opt to go back to the old system."
Among the complaints most often heard here is that contributors are forced to pay exorbitant commissions to the pension funds. Exactly how much goes to such fees is a subject of debate, but a recent World Bank study calculated that a quarter to a third of all contributions paid by a person retiring in 2000 would have gone to pay such charges. *

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