The Widening Gap: The Great Recession’s Impact on State Pension and Retiree Health Care Costs

When you read this article, you wonder if not every municipality and state in the country will have to go bankrupt or reorg in some manner to deal with this problem.  I don’t think I’d own anything but pre-refunded munis or for that matter, the perceived most risky of  muni bonds, revenue bonds might actually be the better since you don’t have all of these health care and pension guarantees with many of them.  A good article on How to Short the Muni Bond Market

States’ Fiscal Health   |  Contact: Margie Newman, 202.552.2230

April 25, 2011 — The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money set aside to pay for them grew to at least $1.26 trillion in fiscal year 2009—a 26 percent increase in one year—according to a Pew report.

The Widening Gap: The Great Recession’s Impact on State Pension and Retiree Health Care Costs analyzes 2009 and 2010 data on states’ funding of pensions and retiree health care. The report shows how states’ retirement systems—many of them already on shaky ground—were affected by the Great Recession:

via The Widening Gap: The Great Recession’s Impact on State Pension and Retiree Health Care Costs.