This policy calls for nationalising or establishing control over pension funds, and re-centring pension systems around a flat-rate residency-based Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) state pension. The proposal responds to structural failures in the global shift toward funded pension systems. First, funded pensions have failed to serve as patient investors, enabling new productive investment in fixed capital . Instead, we have seen asset inflation and processes of value extraction from both the public and private spheres . Second, the supposed ability of funded pensions to avoid the costs of demographic changes (arising from aging populations and falling birth rates) is based on flawed assumptions. Third, individualised pension designs have reproduced and amplified formal labour‑market structural inequalities leading to inadequate and unfair retirement outcomes . Pension systems should be centred around a universal, residency‑based flat‑rate pay‑as‑you‑go (PAYG) state pension. Where funded pension elements are retained, there should be state control over pension investment strategies, which should be aligned with public priorities and should adhere to strict governance, labour and environmental standards. Tax subsidies to pension contributions should be withdrawn, as these are deeply regressive. This proposal reshapes how old‑age security is organised and financed, learning from recent policy experiences. It redistributes risk away from individuals back onto collective, solidaristic arrangements. It shifts resources away from regressive tax reliefs and away from financial intermediaries, curtailing the political and economic power of asset managers. The proposal can form part of a larger poverty‑eradication strategy that focuses on fair distribution and on achieving wellbeing through service provision, rather than exclusively relying on GDP growth.
