Pension Panic: The Coming Financial Bubble Nobody Is Talking AboutBy Shaun Bradley Budgetary shortfalls that have plagued Detroit for years are now spreading to other municipalities. Since 2008, six local governments have been forced to renegotiate their debts in bankruptcy court, with many others on the same trajectory. The scale of the problem has been repeatedly understated by the media, but across the nation, a somber reality is beginning to set in. States with large populations, like California, often find themselves in the spotlight when it comes to deficits, but there are several others that are in even worse shape. Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut are among those facing the biggest hurdles to meet their obligations to retirees. Instead of maintaining a surplus, politicians have continuously prioritized spending today on things like sports stadiums, for example, to ensure re-election. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle have echoed solutions that involve either massive cuts to benefits or shifting the financial burden onto the taxpayer. The price to prop up these insolvent funds will come in the form of higher property taxes, income taxes, and other stealth forms of subsidization. The ongoing exodus of people from the Northeast to states that offer better opportunities and a lower cost of living is putting even more stress on the already fragile system. Pension payouts depend on the contributions of current workers, and as the labor force dwindles, so does the money available. Pushing through substantial reforms is counter-intuitive for our representatives. If they do the responsible thing and defer excess spending in the present, it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on their voter base. Americas political pastime of kicking the can down the road continues, but the options to keep this shell game going are running out. The rating agency Moodys released a report in April of this year that outlined the scale of the shortfall: The unfunded liabilities of the various federal employee pensions systems, covering civilian and military employee benefits, amount to about $3.5 trillion, or 20% of US GDPAdditionally, Moodys estimates that unfunded state and local government pension plan liabilities are of the same magnitude, bringing the total shortfall to 40% of GDP. These calculations dont even include Social Security and Medicare, which compound the issue by trillions of dollars. As the baby boomer generation gets closer to retirement, the amount of money flowing out of these funds will only accelerate. Just this month, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension Fund was forced to freeze $154 million in withdrawals to prevent total failure. Emergency actions like this only serve to further erode the publics confidence and foreshadow a bleak future for those anchored to the current system. The promise of financial security from a bankrupt government needs to be seen for the fraud that it is. The ability to adapt when presented with unpleasant truths is crucial in this dynamic financial environment, especially when the path of least resistance has been rigged as a trap for those who fail to think critically about the future. This article (Pension Panic: The Coming Financial Bubble Nobody Is Talking About) by Shaun Bradley is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Shaun Bradley and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org. Stop offensive military actions, stop jailing people who have harmed no-one, transfer dollars saved to pension funds, problem solved. The government should not have anything the people they tax cant have. Eliminate government pensions. Thatll stop a lot of greed and sedentary behavior on behalf of government. The only reason they have these pensions is because the people are taxed to back them up. Get rid of them! Social inSecurity is the norm. I never hear them say they will take pay cuts. Nobody? Surely you are joking. What about Robert prechter, Porter Stansberry and Harvey Dent? This crisis was engineered. It was planned out by the elites decades ago as their own writings attest 