Full bibliography

The growth of private pensions is examined from a Marxist perspective. In the first part of the paper pension funds are examined in terms of Marx's analysis of the circuit of capital. The apparent anomaly of labour receiving surplus value in the form of interest from pension fund investments is resolved when it is recognized that labour does not own pension funds. The second part of the paper traces the development of private pensions in Canada as part of the class struggle. Private pension plans were first introduced by capital to control labour. Later with legislation by the state, pension funds came to be the major source of investment capital in Canada.