Abstract:

In recent years, in order to reduce growing pension spending, which is foreseen as unsustainable, social security and pension system reform has been applied in many countries. Within the scope of these reforms, the privatisation of pension funds has been one of the most important trends. However, the economic and financial crisis of 2008 brought into focus once again the problems of private pension systems, and the regulatory and supervisory role of the state in this area. In the light of the lessons learned from the crisis, this article attempts to examine whether the privatisation trend was flawed, and if its adoption can only be explained by the influence of organised business interests. Using cases from countries across the world, this article argues that the trend toward privatisation per se was not a mistake; that, in addition to capital’s influence, there were many other factors involved in the crisis; that, even taking their potential benefits into account, privately funded pensions should only be used as a complement to public old-age security systems and not as substitutes; and that any type of pension funds require effective government.

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