Public Pensions: Another $1 TRILLION?

Borrowing at a loss, and the taxpayers foot the bill. Soren Dayton on the scandal of the Chicago CTA's finances, "The coming public pension queen?" Bloomberg on the scope of the problem:

Public pension funds across the U.S. are hiding the size of a crisis that’s been looming for years. Retirement plans play accounting games with numbers, giving the illusion that the funds are healthy.

The paper alchemy gives governors and legislators the easy choice to contribute too little or nothing to the funds, year after year.

The misleading numbers posted by retirement fund administrators help mask this reality: Public pensions in the U.S. had total liabilities of $2.9 trillion as of Dec. 16, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Their total assets are about 30 percent less than that, at $2 trillion.

With stock market losses this year, public pensions in the U.S. are now underfunded by more than $1 trillion.

Yessiree. I saw the WSJ's (and New Trier graduate) Stephen Moore last night on Greta's show--we are still paying off debt from WWII and with this rate of spending we are not only saddling our children with crushing debt, but our grandchildren. We have to be wise and frugal.