Michael Perelman wrote: > The ranking of debts in bankruptcy court seems rather arbitrary rather > than a matter of justice. Why should a worker who earned a pension after > 30 years of hard labor on an assembly line have fewer rights than a > speculator who buys a depressed bond in the hopes of making a profit?
back when the UAW had significant power, the auto companies figured out how to deal with it: instead of giving raises now, promise payments in the future (pensions) or as health benefits (i.e., insurance). It made these "deferred compensation" promises, just as it made promises to bond-holders. Then the companies -- like a lot of other US companies -- wanted to use bankruptcy to break these promises. But not the promises to the bond-holders, of course, because those promises are sacred. Money rules. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
