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Pensions, Profits and the 'Mortgage Crisis' -- Or, a Hard Lesson Against Privatizing Social Security

Excerpt: Long before most of America knew anything about 'subprime loans', many of the nation's pension plans were in trouble. They were often under-funded and teetering on the brink of insolvency. And, should they fail, by its own admission, the federal agency tasked with bailing them out doesn't have enough funds rescue them. Now we come to a situation, which adds even great possibilities for pension plan failure: a major crisis on Wall Street, due to the institutional sale of mortgage based secured investment products. These instruments were sold to banks and institutional investors around the world and have now lost much of their value.