B oth the Turner report on pensions and the government’s subsequent white paper illustrate the UK’s version of a global problem. Policymakers get buried in detail when the big issues are relatively simple.

New Zealand has accidentally arrived at an overall position that others will eventually reach. It offers lessons for the UK about how and how not to do things. Pensions are complex, long-term instruments with wide-ranging implications. It is easy to be captured by the detail. The UK reports illustrate that tendency by recommending a deepening continuation of the state’s involvement in private decisions that individuals make about retirement saving. The UK should instead discuss breaking that involvement.