[ajb]

It's true that the current pension provision depends on this. But if pensions are mainly funded by companies which extract monopoly rent, then it would actually be more efficient and be less distortionary to the competitive market to fund them directly out of taxation - one big, simple rent instead of 100,000 different ones clogging everything up.

[twoodfin]

Are US retirement accounts largely growing on the back of “companies which extract monopoly rent”?

That seems outlandish. My iPhone isn’t “rent”, neither is an Nvidia GPU, or an Instagram ad.

[ajb]

The argument works at the margin as well, though. Suppose companies deliver value X and also extract rent Y, and defend Y on the basis that it would threaten the value of pensions to prevent it - this is rebutted in the same way.

[twoodfin]

I don’t get the point you’re trying to make.

What if X >> Y? Why should we think otherwise?