http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/opinion/chiles-pension-problem.html 2016-09-14 19:39:33 Chile’s Pension Problem An economist writes that a solution would be “to expand the valuable Solidarity Pillar that provides benefits for those with small or no pensions.” === To the Editor: “ When the military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet privatized the old pay-as-you-go pension system, that privatization did not extend to Chile’s military or to similar groups. A good response to today’s concerns about pensions in Chile would be to expand the valuable Solidarity Pillar that provides benefits for those with small or no pensions and to follow the proposal from Chile’s commission on pension reform: “The Armed Forces, Carabineros and similar bodies should, in general, receive the same treatment regarding affiliation and contributions as other workers.” The “same treatment” would include the military in the well-functioning, defined-contribution pension system (known as the A.F.P. system), which should be preserved and improved. This combination of actions would make the pension system better and fairer. PETER DIAMOND Lexington, Mass. The writer, emeritus professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a 2010 economics Nobel laureate, was an informal adviser to some pension commission members.