The declining financial health of public pension systems is increasingly becoming a budget concern for many state and local governments. While the academic literature has identified several factors behind the growth in unfunded state and local public pension liabilities, there is mixed evidence...

There is a strong consensus among economists and public pension experts that many public pensions are substantially underfunded and that absent fundamental reform many state and local governments will have to resort to some mixture of tax increases, budget cuts, and/or bailouts. While many...

The 2019 keynote address offers an important opportunity for economic historians and policy makers to better understand the nuances associated with Detroit’s recent financial problems, ultimate bankruptcy, and its broader implications for state and local governments in general. This episode is...