Wednesday, February 09, 2011

That Public-Pension Grenade? It's Really an H-Bomb

Ruh roh.

[According to] Manhattan Institute's Josh Barro. "The true size of the unfunded liability for retiree benefits is far larger" than the $1 trillion commonly mentioned in news stories, writes Barro in a new report. "This is because governments use excessively optimistic assumptions when estimating the size of their pension liabilities. If less rosy accounting is used, with the (smaller) liabilities of local governments included, unfunded pension obligations total more than $3 trillion. If the costs of health care for retirees are included, unfunded obligations amount to more than $4 trillion."

That should make your day.

HT: Daily Caller

No comments: