Pension Tension

The era of declining public infrastructure is starting to collide with the era of pension tension.  A collision of the desire to build the new bridge or upgrade the municipal water treatment plant with the obligation to pay for public retirement benefits.  The issue is fundamentally very simple - - our collective desire to invest in the future and a legal (maybe moral) obligation to pay for the past.  It is simple with the word "and" - - not so simple when one has to deal with the word "or". 

This is a huge and important issue for engineers - - those that see the need for infrastructure renewal and investment and those that have worked for the benefits.  Do you build the new fire station and pay retirement benefits that a fireman has historically received?  The word "and" appears to be a distant memory.

The debate has just started - - read more at:

  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-11/why-the-public-sector-isn-t-doing-fine-.html