The public-sector pension industry is claiming a comeback from losses suffered during the Great Recession. But this recovery is greatly exaggerated: even years past the end of the recession, most pension sponsors are unable to their full annual contributions, and pensions are taking as much...

The Public Employees' Retirement System of Nevada provides retirement, survivors and disability benefits for Nevada state and local government employees. It is currently one of the better-funded public-sector pensions, due to sound management and consistent government contributions.However, the...

After a protracted legal and political battle, on March 11, 2011 the Wisconsin state legislature passed Act 10, the Budget Repair Act, which increased public employee contributions toward pensions and health coverage and restricted union powers of collective bargaining and dues collection. This...

This paper describes how public employee pensions currently measure their financial health; discusses the consensus among economists that current accounting rules significantly understate pension liabilities and overstate pension funding levels; and describes how pension financing would appear...

Public sector compensation has come under increased scrutiny from politicians and the media, but comprehensive technical comparisons of federal and private compensation have been largely absent from the discussion. Drawing from the academic literature and using the most recent government data,...

The 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) awarded $200 billion in federal aid to the states to support spending for core areas including general relief, education, and mass transit. As revenue pressures mount in the coming months Congress may provide further aid to...

The state of Connecticut runs six defined benefit pension funds for its employees, which in the aggregate are among the most poorly funded retirement plans in the country and place increasing fiscal burdens on the state budget. We use a computer model to simulate the finances of these plans,...