Truly original thinking is unusual in a state bureaucrat who has been on the job for 36 years. But that appears to be the case with David Bronner, head of Alabama's public pension system.
Dan Luzadder of the New York Times brings us the story of Bronner has moved in recent years for Alabama to invest its public pension fund in revamped luxury hotels, office towers and even a cruise ship dock in Mobile, golf courses across the state, and New York City Class A office space to boot. The result is a state pension fund, at $28 billion, that is more than fifty times as large as it was when Bronner took over in 1973.
Most pension funds for public employees just invest in stocks and bonds -- and many such funds are in
very deep trouble. What Bronner and the people of Alabama have done is different -- they've invested pension monies in their own state, bringing benefits to both. Luzadder writes that Bronner "has invested in real estate as a way to create cultural changes in the state."