In The Pension Fund Revolution, originally published nearly two decades ago under the title The Unseen Revolution, Peter F. Drucker reports that institutional investors, especially pension funds, have become the controlling owners of America's large companies, the country's only capitalists. He maintains that the shift began in 1952 with the establishment of the first modern pension fund by General Motors. By 1960 it had become so obvious that a group of young men decided to found a stock-exchange firm catering exclusively to these new investors. Ten years later this firm (Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette) became the most successful, and one of the biggest, Wall Street firms. Drucker's argument, that through pension funds ownership of the means of production had become socialized without becoming nationalized, was unacceptable to the conventional wisdom of the country in the 1970s. Among the predictions made by Drucker in The Pension Fund Revolution are: that a major health care issue would be longevity; that pensions and social security would be central to American economy and society; that the retirement age would have to be extended; and that altogether American politics would increasingly be dominated by middle-class issues and the values of elderly people. While readers of the original edition found these conclusions hard to accept, Drucker's work has proven to be prescient. In the new epilogue, Drucker discusses how the increasing dominance of pension funds represents one of the most startling power shifts in economic history, and he examines their present-day impact.

Throughout the developed world, public and private pension schemes face major challenges that are creating irresistible pressures for reform. Major structural changes in Latin America and in Central and Eastern Europe have led to particularly fierce pressure. Two member states of the European Union - Italy and Sweden - have introduced radical reform of their public pensions systems; controversial pension reforms have been proposed in France and Germany; and the British government has been widely criticized over its pension reforms and its 2002 white paper. This exceptional volume examines the challenges faced by pension schemes in the advanced economies and the reforms that have been introduced to tackle these challenges. A team of international contributors provides an up-to-date, invaluable analysis of different aspects of pension problems, prospects and reforms. The book incorporates cross-national chapters as well as a focus on individual countries including Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

The Unseen Revolution: How Pension Fund Socialism Came to America covers the principles and concepts of the American pension fund socialism. This book is composed of five chapters, and begins with the history and developments of pension fund socialism in the United States. The next chapter deals with the fundamental problems of economic structure, policy, and, as well as the problems of authority, legitimacy, and control of the so-called Social Security. The discussion then shifts to involved social institutions and issues, along with the political lessons and issues of pension fund socialism. The last chapter considers the American politics realignments and readjustments.