Captain Bob's legacy
ROBERT Maxwell stole from his compa- ny's pension funds. Some years after he bolted with the cash, ministers came along, as they do, to fasten the wrong stable door. They gave pension funds a minimum fund- ing requirement, which meant that they all had to buy the same stocks, issued (oddly enough) by the government. This makes it harder for them to meet their obligations, and companies which have to foot the bill may well prefer to close their schemes. As it happens, the Treasury has asked Paul Myn- ers to tell it why big investors (like the pen- sion funds) have the herd instinct so strong- ly developed. He can scarcely fail to retort that the minimum funding requirement is guaranteed to make things worse. I hope he will add that a regime which encouraged us to make our own choices would not leave us at the mercy of long-lost employers.
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