German Policy Studies Volume 4, Nr. 3, 2008, pp. 59-82 
States, Markets, and Sovereign Wealth Funds

 Eric Helleiner and Troy Lundblad 
 Balsillie School of International Affairs
University of Waterloo

 Abstract 
The rapid growth of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in thelast few years has important theoretical implications forscholarly debates concerning the political economy of globalfinance. It signals a reassertion of state authority in globalfinance, but in a manner that scholars did not anticipate indebates that dominated this field of study during the 1990s.Those earlier debates assumed that states mattered onlyinsofar as they could regulate global financial markets orrespond to their imperatives. But the growth of SWFs hasincreasingly placed states in the position of becoming part ofthe very structure of “capital mobility” from which they wereanalytically distinguished in earlier analyses. Thisphenomenon calls attention to the problematic nature of the“states vs. market” dichotomy that drove earlier debates,while at the same time highlighting the transformativecapacity of the state in the context of globalization as well asthe potential agency of powerful actors – both public andprivate – in influencing the imperatives of “capital mobility”

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This BLOG  looks at pensions and their impact on what are called Public Private Partnerships or P3’s these are not really about private funding at all but about two streams of public funding, pensions and government with private capital a third partner.
We will also deal with other pension matters, such as Defined Contribution Plans (DC) vs Defined Benefit (DB) PLANS, the weakness in private plans, the need for pension reform in public pensions to have shareholder rights, directorships and ethical investment directives and policies. 
Finally taking the long view we will show how these funds are forms of evolving social capital that is dominating private capital as we evolve into socialization of capital. 
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