tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post4154037852615026321..comments2024-03-28T23:57:50.103-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: A bureaucratic twist to the public pension crisisPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-30035206225533826162019-02-06T21:06:26.381-06:002019-02-06T21:06:26.381-06:00"...but they're bureaucrats. They push p..."...but they're bureaucrats. They push pencils, dot I's and cross T's." They don't DO math; math is HARD.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-24957434262917170952019-02-06T20:00:28.498-06:002019-02-06T20:00:28.498-06:00It's easy to blast pensions, unless you realiz...It's easy to blast pensions, unless you realize where they came from. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, the economy was booming. In good economic times, people leave public employment to seek employment in the private sector, which has better pay. That is exactly what happened. The public sector was being bled of talented employees, who were leaving government employ for the greener pastures of the private sector.<br /><br />For example, as a firefighter paramedic, I could have gone to a bridge program, transitioned from paramedic to nurse, and gotten a 40-50% increase in my pay while working fewer hours (Firefighter medics work a 56 hour week, nurses a 36 hour week). I stayed for the pension.<br /><br />The powers that be were busy wasting the newfound largess of tax receipts from the booming economy on governmental baubles that were designed to win votes, and therefore could not afford to raise employee pay enough to stop the bleeding of talent. So instead, they instituted a pay later approach- they started a pension system. The promise of a good retirement kept many workers in government employ. The government had the best of both worlds- buy good employees now, pay for them later.<br /><br />Now here we are, 20-30 years later, and the bill is due. Now instead of paying the bill, the government cries poor and refuses to pay the employees who stayed the benefits they were promised. The government is perfectly capable of paying, but like a consumer who had a big party on their VISA card, they would rather keep spending it on wasteful projects than repay the debt that they incurred.<br /><br />Don't blame the public employees. They worked as asked, fulfilling their end of the bargain. Now that they expect the government to hold up their end and pay what they owe, the government decides that they don't want to pay, because they have other things they would rather spend the money on.Divemedichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14583007051962299381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-84250029931147900262019-02-06T11:40:30.984-06:002019-02-06T11:40:30.984-06:00But maff is hard!But maff is hard!Waynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10935525862452793791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-80649834743768200632019-02-06T11:33:13.837-06:002019-02-06T11:33:13.837-06:00It will be interesting to see what happens when th...It will be interesting to see what happens when these pension accounts finally and inevitably fail...Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-24320431614627547552019-02-06T11:14:13.245-06:002019-02-06T11:14:13.245-06:00Another layer of bureaucratic mismanagement not me...Another layer of bureaucratic mismanagement not mentioned here are the local rules, usually politically driven, about when and in what investments can be made - for example, some state funds are limited by the anti-Israel BDS movement. Others have fossil fuel or alcohol and tobacco limitations. <br />An additional layer is poor management and the use of expensive consultants to justify investing in poor investments. One of the classic cases is CALPERS investment in the Stuvesant Town apartment complex in NY that holds the record for the largest repossession: https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/01/money-cocalpers-loses-500-million-on-new-york-apartment-deal.html <br />Jonathan Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10476185257203343474noreply@blogger.com