Saturday, May 28, 2011

On credibility gaps

Since I haven't yet seen this story linked to the spin which seems to have made it necessary, let's put two and two together.

The professionals responsible for maintaining the solvency of the Canada Pension Plan have made it clear that the CPP is capable of expanding its operations if Canadians decide they'd prefer to have more of their retirement taken care of through a near-universal public program:
The investment arm of the Canada Pension Plan is prepared for any expanded role, if that's what the government wants, president and chief executive David Denison said Thursday after reporting that the fund's assets rose to a record high last year.

"We're not advocating one way or another on reforms, but if it does translate into CPP expansion and we're asked to manage it — we can do it," Denison said.
...
Any expansion would give the CPPIB more money to manage, but Denison said there wouldn't be much change in strategy because it is already preparing for growth in the multibillion-dollar fund.

The CPP Fund's assets under management reached a record high of $148.2 billion at the end of its most recent fiscal year, compared with $127.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2010, it said in its annual report Thursday.
In contrast, the ideologues dedicated to destroying social programs at every turn are declaring that they're really only motivated by a desire to save the CPP in demanding that its reach be as limited as possible.

So who figures to be a more credible authority on the viability of an expanded CPP: the people who have managed it effectively and responsibly to turn it into the most reliable part of Canada's retirement system, or the corporate interests whose goal is to undermine any reliance on public programs?

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