A super talk by Mike Rafferty

One of the worst features of the federal Budget last month was the raising of the retirement age, part of what I was referring to when I mentioned the impending ‘good old-fashioned distributional struggle’. Tomorrow night Mike Rafferty’s speaking at a forum in Surry Hills. He wrote this great op-ed on the subject in the Sydney Morning Herald. If you’re interested, get in touch for the address – it’s an intimate forum in an office block near Central Station. (mikejbeggs at gmail)

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Superannuation: equity, sustainability and reform

The Great Recession continues to wreak havoc around the world. Continuing sharp falls in industrial production, trade and employment offer little evidence of the ‘green shoots’ of recovery. With the huge falls on global share markets, notwithstanding recent gains, retirement incomes linked to financial market performance have been hit hard. In this MPS Forum, we examine the equity and sustainability of the current superannuation system and explore avenues for reform.

Questions to be considered:

· How does current superannuation system disproportionately benefit the well-off?

· What are the implications of changes made in 2009 budget?

· What are the myths regarding the link between an ageing population and fiscal crisis?

· Is the current superannuation system sustainable?

· What reforms might improve the system? Could ‘green bonds’ etc play a role?

Date: Wednesday, June 3

Time: 6.30pm

Mike Rafferty

Mike is a Senior Researcher in the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

His publications include: Rafferty M and Bryan D 2006 ‘Capitalism With Derivatives: A Political Economy of Financial Derivatives, Capital and Class’, Palgrave Macmillan; and Martin R, Rafferty M and Bryan D 2008 ‘Financialization Risk and Labour’, Competition and Change, vol.12:2, pp. 121-133.