These days, very few people get guaranteed pensions and they are almost always 401ks instead.
If you are running a business, isn’t it cheaper to provide pensions? You can invest the money in the same sort of funds that a 401k is invested in, but money not paid out (say, both retiree and spouse die) can be pocketed where 401k goes to whoever is a beneficiary like kids, extended family, charities, pets, etc).
In: Economics
I’ll give you the “real” (conspiracy) reason. You see, the average voter has no real reason to care about the stock market, except indirectly. It is mostly a concern for those with enough capital to invest. So how do you get a typical voter to support policies that help the wealthy? Well, you make the quality of retirement directly tied to the performance of the stock market. Especially voters who are 50+ years old (close to retirement, and keeping an eye on their 401k portfolio value), who also happen to be more reliable voters.
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