January 17, 2011

Memo to self - don't let your mouth make a promise that your wallet can't keep

Fun time ahead and of course, the people who negotiated these have moved on... From the Financial Times:
States warned of $2,500bn pensions shortfall
US public pensions face a shortfall of $2,500bn that will force state and local governments to sell assets and make deep cuts to services, according to the former chairman of New Jersey�s pension fund.

The severe US economic recession has cast a spotlight on years of fiscal mismanagement, including chronic underfunding of retirement promises.
And this just in:
Pension liabilities are not included in state and local government debt figures.
Smoke and mirrors -- makes me wonder how many more of these little accounting scams there are. Margaret Thatcher's comment rings loud and true here:
The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
Posted by DaveH at January 17, 2011 8:02 PM