Today’s post reacts to the news that the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has the largest pensions deficit of any British pension fund, now measured at £17.5 billion. We have looked briefly at pension deficits before here in Financial Regulation Matters when we looked at the behaviour of Sir Philip Green throughout the BHS scandal , but in this post we will review some of the concerns connected to this large increase in the deficit of the largest pension fund in the U.K., whilst we will also look at some of the issues that branch out from this development. Ultimately, it is worth considering whether, as Peter Drucker once opined, pension funds are the saviour of capitalism , whether the function of pension fund investment powerhouses is beneficial but needs alteration , whether the current situation is a product of the financial crisis and something that does not need much attention , or whether the situation is representative of inherent systemic issues which are bound...

Today’s very short post looks at the news that Goldman Sachs, having recently bought $2.8 billion’s worth of bonds issued by the Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), is being heavily criticised for doing so by opposition leaders in the country. For this short post, the actual details of this sale will be scrutinised because it reveals an understanding of the philosophy of big financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, as if that were needed at this point, which is important to consistently repeat – the acceptance of such a philosophy can never be allowed to become the ‘norm’. The obvious criticism stemming from the opposition in the economically-ravaged country that is swaying from one crisis to the next , is that the bond sale represents the Bank as ‘ aiding and abetting the country’s dictatorial regime ’ and that, ultimately, ‘ Goldman Sachs decided to make a quick buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people ’. Now, before we continue, it ...