Wall Street Milks The Little Guy

Regarding "The conspiracy for failure in 401(k) plans" (Wed Business Pg. D2), kudos once again to Scott Burns for his advocacy on behalf of Savers for full disclosure by the companies that deceive the public about the real costs of 401k and IRA programs.  Burns has been a lone voice amongst financial experts in his relentless coverage and the wealth of detail he provides about the shenanigans of these companies. 

 

What is distressing, though, is the extent to which state and federal regulators as well as academia have participated in preventing full disclosure on retirement fund fees.  Case in point: Burns cites the threat by Yale Law School professor Ian Ayres to reveal the names of companies with high-cost plans.  The backlash from the industry was so intense that he backpedaled, promising that no "company-specific" data would be released, lest he "overstep...the boundaries of polite behavior."

 

For heavens sake, why not?  On what planet is this information that the public is not entitled to have?  Ayres was clearly pressured to back off by the Establishment politicians who protect the interests of powerful lobbies, and there's none more powerful than Wall Street.  The end result is that small investors will continue to be milked like dairy cows, at least until Scott Burns and folks like him can provoke a long overdue public outcry.  In the meantime, shame on our politicians for their failure to protect the public from this fraud.

Pete Smith
Cypress, TX