August 19, 2005. Excerpts from a letter to JP from Ludovit Kanik, Minister of Labor of Slovakia: "May I greet you from the bottom of my heart. It’s almost a year since you were visiting with us last. Your presentation before Slovak public has significantly contributed to a successful launching of the new pension system, which means that our citizens now get 9% of their wages every month in their personal accounts, which are in their possession. The system has been fully operational for 8 months now. Only recently we have registered the millionth participant and we expect that upon completion of the transition period in mid-2006, almost 70% of all population of active age will have joined the system. That is good evidence of increasing confidence of the public and a great potential of the capitalisation pillar. You had your great share in these positive results, namely by your frequent visits to Slovakia. Your authority, experience and knowledge were the best ambassador for the pension saving. Allow me to emphasise how much I appreciate our mutual cooperation, your attitude to our country, and the assistance you've rendered us in the decisive moments." 

July 29, 2005. A delegation from Nigeria meets JP in Santiago to discuss their plans to implement PRAs in their country.

July 4, 2005. A brief note by JP on Independence Day: "Ben Franklin vs Otto von Bismarck."

July 1, 2005. Nicole Gelinas writes: "It’s foolish not to take advantage of advances in information and financial technology to ease our collective Social Security burden without forcing undue risk onto individual workers and retirees. One of the unheralded benefits of the beautifully engineered personal accounts within Chile’s version of Social Security is that the lowest-income workers have the same access to good mutual funds within the very successful program as do the highest-income workers" (City Journal, Summer 2005).

May 7, 2005. John Tierney strikes again with a second Op Ed in the NYT about Chile, titled "Place your bets". His conclusion: "I can't protect my pension against political risk, but (my Chilean friend) Pablo can help protect his against the risks of the stock market. As he approaches retirement, he can gradually shift his money out of stocks and into bonds, like the ones that financed the private road between Santiago and the port city of Valparaiso, which will be paid off by tolls. The Chilean pension system has billboards along the road proclaiming, 'Your savings are financing this highway, and this highway is financing your retirement.' Those billboards have been on my mind. My pension depends on 535 politicians who will be asked to vote for steep tax increases or budget cuts that they fear could cost them their jobs. Pablo's pension depends on people driving between Chile's two largest cities."

April 25, 2005. John Tierney writes an Op Ed in The New York Times on Chile's pension system after he discovers that his school time friend in Chile, Pablo Serra, will get three times more than him in Social Security benefits. Its title: "The Proof is in the Pension."

March 3, 2005. A profile of JP that emphasizes the worldwide attraction of the Chilean pension model is published in the WSJ and in the WSJE under the title "Pension Reform Pied Piper loves private accounts."

March 1, 2005. Even the far left in the U.S. is intrigued by personal accounts. The article "The Siren of Santiago" in Mother Jones, though filled with distortions about Chile's recent history and its pension system, is interesting due to its provenance.

February 2, 2005. In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush announces his proposal to reform Social Security and to introduce personal retirement accounts. 

February 1, 2005.  Former Senator (D) Bob Kerrey, an early supporter of PRAs, writes in an Op Ed in the WSJ: "The late Pat Moynihan used to joke when I asked him why liberals were so reluctant to consider changing Social Security so that it guaranteed wealth as well as income: 'It's because they worry that wealth will turn Democrats into Republicans.'" 

December 1, 2004. The New York Times publishes JP's article "Retiring in Chile" in their Op-Ed page. It reaches the number one position in their list of the 25 most emailed articles from their website. 

October 27, 2004.  Carlo Stagnaro of IBL writes an article in "Tech Central Station."

October 21, 2004. The Bruno Leoni Institute (IBL) organizes a panel in Rome to launch JP's latest book advocating what a reviewer called a "rivoluzioni copernicana" in European pensions. It takes place in the Chamber of Deputies in piazza Montecitorio. In the panel, senators from all political parties discuss the Chilean model and its relevance to Italy. The book is titled "Pensioni, Una reforma per sopravvivere. Prospettive europee del modello a capitalizzazione" and can be obtained through the IBL website (www.brunoleoni.it).

September 2, 2004. In his closing speech at the Republican Convention in New York, President Bush once again reaffirmes his commitment to create personal Social Security accounts. 

June 17, 2004. The Stockholm Network informs that: "The Istituto Bruno Leoni hosted a conference on pension reform. José Piñera, the architect of Chile's market-oriented pension reforms, debated with former Minister of Labour Tiziano Treu (Centre-Left) and former Budget Minister Giancarlo Pagliarini (Centre-Right)... Could this be a turning point in the Italian debate on pension reforms?"

May 31, 2004. Here is JP's comment on the "State of the Nation" speech of President Putin, published in The Moscow Times. 

May 28, 2004.  Business Week celebrates the role of a funded retirement system in creating robust capital markets: "Drivers in Chile don't have to wait until they're 65 to enjoy their pension benefits. Every day thousands do so when they speed from Santiago to Viña del Mar along the Rutas del Pacífico toll road, which opened on Apr. 13 with funding from the country's deep-pocketed pension funds. A billboard reminds passing motorists: 'Your savings are financing this highway, and this highway is financing your retirement'." 

May 13, 2004. The Economist's "At last a vision at home" states that the "ownership society" should be the grand theme of this year's presidential campaign in the USA, and its keystone is the idea of Social Security private retirement accounts. 

April 9, 2004. The Cato Institute hosts a conference in Moscow and another in St. Petersburg. JP promotes a program of radical free market reforms in Russia. A group of reformers is invited to a four-hour brainstorming with President Putin in his dacha, as related in this article by the Moscow Times entitled "World Reformers pay Putin a visit."

December 19, 2003. Ludovit Kanik writes to JP: "I would like to share some good news with you. On Tuesday, the 16th December 2003, the Slovak Parliament approved the law on the old-age pension savings scheme. Thus, as of 1 January 2005, Slovak workers will start depositing 9% into their personal savings accounts. These savings will be their private property, to which succession rights will fully apply. I am confident that the pension reform, borne by your inspiration and with your significant assistance, will bring not only higher pension to our citizens but also freedom and self-assurance while seeking out the correct way. Your visit to Slovakia started an intense discussion about the pension reform and enormously influenced the generation of a favourable political climate. The time of our visit to Chile coincided with the period of acute search for parliamentary support of the main law of the reform. The discussion with you made great impression, and contributed to a major extent to the determination and will of the members of our parliament to push through this historically new project of the pension system in our society. I am thankful as well as obliged to you for your efforts that resulted in very good news not only for our citizens but to people all over the world as well. Respectfully, Ludovít Kaník, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs."

November, 2003. Slovakia Minister of Labor Ludovit Kanik and the full Labor and Social Affairs Committee of Parliament, which is visiting Santiago in order to learn about the Chilean reform, meet with JP. A good exchange of views until JP learns that in their pension reform project workers will not have property rights over their retirement savings. The Minister says that the State will own the accounts in order to keep the budget deficit within the Maastricht criteria, since Slovakia wants to join the eurozone some day. JP explains that it is an essential feature of the Chilean system that every worker owns his/her retirement account and that he will not support a reform in which the government owns the accounts, because there is a clear possibility that some government will in the future confiscate all or part of the workers hard-earned money. It will be another big frustration for the Slovak people. JP explains to them how the eurozone authorities will have to adjust those criteria to take into consideration unfunded pension liabilities and the situation of reforming countries. The chairman and all the members of the commission agree with Pinera's position. A few days later Jan Oravec, one of the early promoters of Slovakian pension reform, writes to JP: "After coming back to Slovakia from Chile, the Slovak Members of Parliaments who met with you decided to change the law submitted by Kanik and establish the property rights again. Finance Minister Miklos agreed immediately. Slovak workers will own their pension saving accounts only thanks to our campaign here in Slovakia and thanks to you meeting them in Chile and explaining them this issue too."

September, 2003. Example of a busy month of JP in USA. Conference at the California Club in a historic mansion of downtown Los Angeles; chat online in WashingtonPost.com; meeting of the Advisory Board of Cato's SS Project to agree on a specific reform proposal; brainstorming with the staff of Citizens for a Sound Economy; dinner at Matt Kibbe's home with Barry Jackson, who works with Karl Rove in the White House; conference sponsored by For Our Grandchildren in Charleston, SC, introduced by Governor Mark Sanford; conference at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics of St. Anselm College in Manchester, introduced by Senator John Sununu; three days in the annual meeting of the Cato Club 200 at Charleston, with a visit to the wonderful gardens of Middleton Place; and meetings at the Cato Institute with visitors from Italy, Mexico, and Slovakia.

June, 2003. Example of a busy month of JP in Europe. In Paris, Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin explaines his timid, and only parametric, pension reform, but with French eloquence speaks of the need to act with "lucidite demographique". Meanwhile, all sorts of strikes, including the (mal) odorous one of garbage collection. A conference in Milan on the crisis of the Welfare State. A fellow panelist, Sabine Herold of "Liberte, j'ecris ton nom", explaines how they mobilized 80.000 persons to protest in the streets of Paris against those strikes. The name of that organization originates from the marvelous poem of Paul Eluard. In Milan, interview with Cecile Phillipe for the launch of her Francophone think-tank, the Institut Molinari. Full support and encouragement to three young Italians, Alberto Mingardi, Carlo Stagnaro and Leonardo Facco, in their effort to create an Italian market liberal think-tank named Istituto Bruno Leoni.

September 22, 2002. Today in the Toronto Star, columnist James Daw argues that former president Bill Clinton was set to push hard for Social Security reform before the infamous Lewinsky affair hit the national scene: "Liberal Democrats were opposed to his pension changes, so to get their support to avoid impeachment, Clinton postponed the package of reforms."

May 9, 2002. Jose Pinera is invited to attend the ceremony at the White House in which President George W. Bush honors Milton Friedman on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Extraordinary presentations by Gary Becker, Alan Greenspan and Donald Rumsfeld. 

February 16, 2002. In its "Survey on Pensions", The Economist says: "Twenty years ago the Chilean government took a bold step to extricate itself from its pay-as-you-go pension system. It switched to a funded system in which pension benefits are paid from savings and the returns on them. The Chilean reform has since provided a model for reforms elsewhere in Latin America. The gross rate of return earned by Chile's pension funds from their inception to the end of 2000 averaged 11% a year after inflation."

February 7, 2002. Jose Pinera debates with former United States Senator Paul Simon at The City University of New York, sponsored by the Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation. 

September, 2000. Foreign Affairs asks Jose Pinera for an article after an April visit to Moscow, invited by Andrei Illarionov to meet the key members of President-elect Putin team. The deputy editor, Fareed Zakharia, titles it: "A Chilean model for Russia". One paragraph: "As a member of the team of economists that entered the Pinochet government in Chile in the 1970s to produce a free-market economic revolution and a return to democratic rule, I was inevitably asked whether Russia 'needed a Pinochet' and whether the country should introduce a 'Chilean economic model.' My unequivocal answer was no to the first question and yes to the second."  

December 22, 1998. The Founder and President of the Cato Institute, Ed Crane, sends Jose Pinera a gracious Christmas letter.

December 4, 1998. "We are dealing with a movement that is as powerful, and in its own way legitimate, as the labor movement was 100 years ago", said Senator Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., recently about Social Security privatization (Steve Moore, "Social Security Reform must empower workers", Investor's Business Daily).

April 2, 1998. With the title "No rest for Jose", today's Washington Times publishes this note: "José Piñera certainly is making the official rounds in Washington. Who is José, you ask? Well, apart from the fact that he could mean the difference between a pleasant and not-so-pleasant retirement for many Americans, Mr. Piñera was minister of labor and social security in Chile during the late 1970s. More importantly, he devised the plan to privatize Chile's social security system. The Chilean model has since been adopted by seven other Latin America countries, and is under consideration in countless other places around the world. Poland, for example, launches its privatized system on May 1 of this year. Here in Washington, when the Cato Institute launched its project on Social Security Privatization in 1995 (long before anybody else in this city took the notion seriously), Mr. Piñera signed on as co-chairman. Over the past year, he's testified before numerous congressional committees-Banking, Budget and Ways and Means, to name a few. He's getting even more attention this week. On Tuesday, he met with Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling, Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Social Security Commissioner Ken Apfel, spending an hour-and-a-half going over the private option in great detail, says one source in attendance. That night, he was featured guest at a private dinner hosted by Sen. Phil Gramm, Texas Republican, with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and economist Martin Feldstein, whose partial-privatization proposal has gotten some attention on the Hill lately, seated at the dinner table. Today, Mr. Piñera delivers an address on privatization to a joint gathering of the Kansas legislature in Topeka, with another speech in Kansas City, where President Clinton's first town meeting on Social Security will be held next Tuesday."

March 10, 1998. During the Q&A session after the Federal Reserve Chairman testimony to the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, there was this dialogue. Chairman Kasich: "As more people get interested in the idea of actually having a passbook account where they can see their accumulated dollars, it begins to make them more comfortable with the concept that they actually own something, as it has happened in Chile. I hope this would contribute to higher national savings because when people tend to see the gains they make from savings, there is really a natural feeling to save more". Mr. Greenspan: "As a matter of fact, a Chilean friend of mine said to me that when the so-called recognition bonds came out, which essentially designated in a little passbook what their Social Security net worth was, everyone carried them around and waved them as though, you know, 'I've got wealth, I've got a commitment to the economy, to the society', and I don't think we should shortchange that. It may seem a bit beside the point from an economist's point of view, but sometimes we economists have got to see a somewhat larger picture."

September 18, 1997. Governor George W. Bush sends Jose Pinera this handwritten note: "Dear Jose, Thanks for coming to Austin to share your wisdom. All of us enjoyed your comments. Congratulations on making a difference. Respectfully, George Bush."

September 11, 1997.  Invited by Governor George W. Bush, Jose Pinera has dinner at his home in Austin, Texas. Afterwards, in a two-hour meeting in his study, he explains at lenght Chile's Social Security Reform of 1980 and its consequences for Chile and the world.

May 1, 1997.  The Cato Institute celebrates its 20th anniversary in a gala dinner with 2.000 friends and sponsors at the Washington Hilton. These were Jose Pinera's remarks. 

April 29, 1997. From a WSJ editorial: "An upcoming John Stossel report on ABC will feature the work of Jose Pinera of the Cato Institute, who as Chile's Minister of Labor converted that country's Social Security system to private retirement accounts. Since then, seven Latin American countries have adopted variations of Mr. Pinera's reform." 

April 10, 1997.  Jose Piñera receives  the "Liberty Award for Opportunity" from Steve Forbes, former US presidential candidate and President of "Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity", in a dinner at the Waldorf Astoria ballroom in New York. 

March 5, 1997. Only a month before a general election, John Major's government proposes a radical reform to the UK first tier pension system, called the "Basic State Pension". The Financial Times reports: “the scheme, which bears some similarities to Chile’s restructuring of pensions in 1981... would be the biggest change to Britain’s welfare state since its foundation in 1945” (March 6, 1997). In an editorial the same day, “Pensions debate”, the FT said that “at a stroke, Mr. Peter Lilley, the social security secretary, has shifted the terms of the welfare debate in an unexpectedly radical direction.” It should be noted that the UK in 1986, under Margaret Thatcher, was the first country to follow Chile in introducing choice in the second tier of its pension system. Since then, the UK has had a partially privatized two-tier pension system.

September 19, 1996. Letter from Labour MP Frank Field, Chairman of the House of Commons Social Security Committee, to JP: "It is hard to exaggerate the influence you have had on the developing debate on the future of the pension system of the UK. Your fluent advocacy of radical change of which we had some indication when you appeared before the Select Committee in May this year, continues to provide a real challenge to those who seek to preserve in whole, or in part, some of the existing network of pension provision".

June 10, 1996. From James Bartholomew's column in The Daily Telegraph: "The Piñera plan encourages self reliance and good results...I think that both the Conservative and the Labor party should look at it eagerly. Either of them could turn it into a vote-winner in a manifesto for the next election...Social Security Secretary Peter Lilley gave Mr. Piñera a private audience. But the best encouragement I got was news of a small incident: when Mr. Piñera gave his evidence to the House of Commons's select committee on Social Security, chairman Frank Field, a Labour MP, borrowed Mr. Piñera's very own retirement account passbook. This, I hope, represents the British establishment beginning to get seriously interested."

May 20, 1996. JP testifies in the House of Commons invited by Frank Field, Labor MP and Chairman of the Social Security Committee. The full testimony and the Q&A is published as "Saving for Retirement: Minutes of Evidence" by HMSO.

May 13, 1996. An article by Jonathan Alter in today's Newsweek quotes three-term former governor of Colorado Richard Lamm about an experience he had a year ago while staying in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House: "It is 12:30 at night, and Bill Clinton asks me and Dottie: 'What do you know about the Chilean social-security system?'" Alter then writes that Clinton "arranged for a special report about the innovative market-based Chilean solution to be slipped under Lamm's door early the next morning." Once I read this great story, I found my way to meet Dick Lamm in his home in Denver and asked him for that report. I got it, together with the handwritten note by the U.S. President on White House stationary: "3-21-95. Dick-Sorry I missed you this morning. It was great to have you and Dottie here-Here's the stuff on Chile I mentioned-Best, Bill."

January 28, 1996. Bill Jamieson, economics editor of The Sunday Telegraph, writes today in his column: "Dr. José Piñera is one of the hottest properties in global economics. To meet him in his office here in Santiago was an experience equivalent to having a dynamite charge...Piñera, one of the most engaging economists it has been my privilege to meet, is advising Spain on how to adopt his model and will visit London in the spring. He is the pension´s world equivalent of José Carreras or Plácido Domingo. Grab, beg, borrow or steal a ticket to hear him speak. From this man and this scheme Britain has much to learn." 

January 26, 1996. Mack McLarty, President Clinton's chief of staff, writes to Jose Pinera after meeting him in Santiago: "Without doubt, the reform of Chile’s pension system has been a critical contributing factor –some have called it the mother of all reforms—to Chile’s ongoing economic success. The social security reforms which you developed and fought for have put your country on a stable footing for the future. Although the Chilean and North American experiences are different in several key respects, I believe we can learn a great deal from your country’s bold initiative, which is widely envied throughout the hemisphere. Jose, you are a strong and thoughtful voice for economic reform; your legacy is secure."

August 14, 1995. The Cato Institute's Project on Social Security Privatization is launched with a news conference at the National Press Club. The co-chairman are Jose Pinera and Bill Shipman.

May 16, 1995. Jose Pinera writes to Ed Crane: "A few days after our meeting I visited Milton Friedman in his apartment in Hob Hill and when I mentioned the Project, he praised the idea and wished us every success...Once the other co-chairman and the director are nominated, the launching of the Project will be a good opportunity to attract attention on this issue. August 14th, the 60th anniversary of Social Security, has a symbolic value."

April 27, 1995. Jose Pinera and Ed Crane agree to collaborate and create the "Cato Project on Social Security Privatization".

December 12, 1994. After visiting Chile and meeting JP, American journalist and writer Joe Klein writes a compelling article in Newsweek titled "If Chile can do it... couldn´t North America privatize its social-security system?" And he concludes: "the Chilean system is perhaps the first significant social-policy idea to emanate from the Southern Hemisphere."

August 19, 1994. Jose Pinera sends a letter to Ed Crane, President of the Cato Institute, informing him of his decision to dedicate himself fully to promote all over the world the Chilean system of personal retirement accounts, and tell him that "if Cato is thinking of organizing a program on Social Security Privatization, I hope you will be in touch with us."

December 11, 1993. First presidential elections in Chile under a democratic government, after the succesfull transition that we envisioned in the 1980 Constitution. Jose Pinera runs as an independent presidential candidate in order to defend the free market revolution and propose new reforms to transform Chile into a developed country and a fully free society. Finish third among six candidates in national vote, and first in districts were he is allowed to deliver his message, as explained in this commentary. He declares his mission accomplished in Chile.

May 20, 1988. Jose Pinera is the guest of William F. Buckley Jr.'s guest in his influential "Firing Line" TV program. The program titled "Chile and a novel approach to Social Security" airs on PBS this week (program number 1738). The "devil's advocate" is a radical New York activist, Mark Green. This is the comment distributed by the Firing Line Newsletter: "The discussion is at least as much about Chile´s struggle toward democracy as it is about social security. The key to the hour is Mr. Piñera's persuasive charm. He describes his hopes for his country's political and economic future with eager confidence, and it is easy to see how he convinced a government that must have been dubious at best to try something new and daring. Mr. Green tries hard to burst Mr. Piñera's bubble. His efforts yield more interesting information on the Chilean economy, but ultimately fail to undercut Mr. Piñera's optimistic projections."

January 3, 1986. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the reform on Nov. 4, 1985, Jose Pinera writes an article explaining the Chilean Social Security Reform and its initial results. It is published today in the Op Ed page of the Wall Street Journal. The editor, David Asman, titles it: "Chileans Unravel Social-Security Tangle."

October, 1981. The government of Margaret Thatcher invites Jose Pinera to make an official visit to the UK and explain Chile's Social Security, Trade Union and Mining Reforms.

January, 1981. George Shultz, former Treasury secretary and now advising President-elect Ronald Reagan, visits Jose Pinera in the Ministry of Mining. He asks Pinera for a one-page memo on the reform to give to then President Elect Ronald Reagan. The Dow Jones is at 900. A few days later, on January 25, Jose Pinera receives a letter from Shultz saying: "Dear Mr. Minister: Onward social security, the labor code, let alone the mining industry. I truly enjoyed our conversations and I look forward to getting from you the English language statement about your new and creative Social Security system. I will also welcome being informed of developments in it as you go along and any additional thinking that occurs to you."

November 30, 1980. William F. Buckley Jr. writes enthusiastically about Chile´s SS reform in his nationally syndicated column, reproduced in several newspapers in the USA. Two weeks ago, he had lunch at Jose Pinera's office since he was in Santiago, back from a sailing trip.  

November 6, 1980. The Chilean Official Gazette publishes the Social Security Reform laws and in the evening Jose Pinera explains the reform to the country in a nationally televised address (On this same day in 1917, Lenin was taking over Petrograd and beginning the Russian Revolution that turned every worker into a slave of communism).

November 4, 1980. After almost two years as Secretary of Labor and Social Security, the government approves three laws entailing a comprehensive and pioneering Social Security reform. The first one (Law # 3500) introduces a national system of mandatory personal retirement accounts, financed by the former payroll tax and managed by the private sector (creating the future system of AFPs). The second (Law # 3501) establishes the transition rules from the pay-as-you-go system to the new one and also allows workers to divert the mandatory health contribution to a private provider (creating the future system of ISAPRE). The third (Law # 3502) rationalizes the paygo system (creating the INP, a single government body to pay benefits to current retirees and manage the paygo system of those who decide to stay there after May 1, 1981).

May 1, 1980. In his speech at the celebration ceremony of Labor Day, with an audience of 3.000 labor and business leaders, Jose Pinera announces the key definitions of the project of Social Security reform and explains his vision of a "nation of owners". The speech emphasizes how this reform will strengthen the freedom and dignity of workers.

June 30, 1979.  The "Plan Laboral" is approved, a set of labor laws that allow the resumption of trade union activity in Chile. It radically decentralizes the process of collective bargaining and eliminates any government intervention in this sphere, thus ensuring industrial peace, wage increases according to productivity and not political clout, and a pro-employment public policy. It also introduces totally free elections for unions and trade organizations, to such an extent that former President Frei's Labor Secretary William Thayer called these laws "a general essay for the restoration of democracy" in Chile. 

January 15, 1979.  Jose Pinera persuades the leadership of the AFL-CIO of the injustice of imposing a boycott on all Chilean foreign trade to the U.S., as it was decided by them a few months ago, and today George Meany backs off and lifts the threat.

December 26, 1978.  Jose Pinera becomes Secretary of Labor and Social Security of Chile.