02-04-2025, 12:00 AM
Some states have them (though they don't specifically call them "sovereign wealth funds"). Utah, Texas, Idaho.
I'm not crazy about the idea. It supposes the government (or some 3rd party board using money that isn't theirs , investing on behalf of the government) is a good judge of worthy investments. (Think back to the 2008 bailouts and government buying up shares of AIG, when AIG should have been bought up at fire sale prices by a more competent competitor). That was basically a sort of unofficial sovereign wealth fund—though in that case, operating for the sole purpose of buying up failing financial institutions. I'd hope that any actual SWF created would be investing based on solid forecasts rather than desperation, but those hopes are pretty low, so yeah—not crazy about the idea.
At some point, the taxpayer seed money is supposed to be cycled back out and the fund becomes self-sufficient. It doesn't sound too bad of an idea, in theory, and in lots of countries it seems to work. But, with our politicians in D.C.? Ehhh . . .
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