Insolvent Pension Funds and Financialization Failure

At the end of WW2, the United States economic system was basically organized so working families could make a living, but after the 1970s and 80s it was reorganized for corporations and banks. There's a well publicized chart of the growth of "productivity", i.e. units of GDP per hour of work, and the stagnation of hourly wages from the early 70's through today. There's a corresponding rise of stock indices--and a decline of interest rates to 0%.

The "booming" stock market should be fueling pension funds, but across the country they're insolvent and won't be able to pay their obligations. So where did all the extra productivity go? Did it all go to corporate executives? It's hard to find any studies of the cost of the system itself--it's a perpetual skimming and siphoning operation that's been sucking wealth out of the whole country for a few decades and piling it up in a handful of coastal neighborhoods in overpriced real estate and fancy digs.

The bust pension funds recipients seemingly have their interests aligned with the people who fucked their nation over. They need high stock market returns to receive a monthly stipend. Their interests are aligned against their peers' children and their own people. It's a pretty interesting situation.

The other interesting thing is the corporations and banks are also obsolete because of the internet and automation.