Public pension systems in Alabama and Mississippi face financial peril

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A new report on Alabama’s public pension system offers some startling facts on the system’s woes, but offers a prescription for reform that could be a blueprint for Mississippi’s system. A new report on Alabama’s public pension system offers some startling facts on the system’s woes, but offers a prescription for reform that could be a blueprint for Mississippi’s…

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Public Pensions: "Tremendous Risk"?

How much riskier are public pensions for taxpayers and government budgets these days? According to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by American Enterprise Institute scholar Andrew G. Biggs, public pensions pose about a 10 times greater risk than they did in 1975. How much riskier are public pensions for taxpayers and government budgets these…

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The Pension Debate Continues

Steve Kreisberg, a union representative for AFSCME, and Andrew G. Biggs, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discuss public pension issues on “Newshour” in relation to the Detroit bankruptcy and Illinois vote to cut pension benefits. Public pensions are contractual obligations to pay employees retirement benefits as partial compensation for their work. Biggs says…

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Do Public Pensions Bet Against the Odds and Let Politicians off the Hook?

What’s one reason for the nation’s public pension crisis? It may have to do with placing false hopes on risky investments and making pensions look better off than they really are. What’s one reason for the nation’s public pension crisis? It may have to do with placing false hopes in risky investments and making pensions…

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