Oansvariga pensionssystem

Ganska regelbundet dyker det upp artiklar om de problem som olika amerikanska delstaters och städers pensionssystem står inför. Den ekonomiska krisen i Detroit är den internationellt mest uppmärksammade illustrationen av hur det går när det ställs ut löften som inte rimligen kan hållas.

Stephen Moore skriver:

The crisis dates back 20 to 30 years ago, when public employee unions negotiated fat pension deals with state and local politicians that were like ticking time bombs in municipal budgets. The politicians who bought union votes didn’t care much. They’d be long gone when these grenades detonated, and the fiscal carnage began.

Ett konkret exempel från Kalifornien:

Scranton is a middle-class, blue-collar town of 76,000 with severe financial problems. The city recently raised its property taxes for 2014 by more than 50 percent, and those taxes are expected to rise by another 20 percent in 2015. The city had to also raise various fees, such as the charge for garbage collection, by two-thirds. It’s becoming a tax hell.

These taxpayer costs are skyrocketing because the city’s auditors calculate that the police and fire pension funds will be completely depleted in three to five years. The local Times-Tribune newspaper reported last week that “pensions increased by as much as 80 percent” after a court order in 2011 awarded millions of dollars of added pensions to firefighters and police officers.

This is a town that has already been struggling for years to pay its bills. The Times-Tribune reports: “The increased pensions come at a time when Scranton, in distressed status since 1992, is struggling to survive [and faces] a $20 million deficit.” City officials admit that to pay these lucrative pensions will mean less money for school children, public safety and infrastructure needs.

Detta är en lärdom för alla politiker som för att få kortsiktigt politiska fördelar (dvs röster!) vill underminera den långsiktighet som alla pensionssystem måste ha. Detta är en aktuell fråga i Sverige.

Daily Signal