Posts Tagged ‘pension liabilities’
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 19th, 2010 9:09 PM |
For those who may have missed CBS News 60 Minutes this evening, there was a fabulous segment on the impending disasters within our municipal finance sector. This piece entitled State Budgets: Day of Reckoning runs for approximately 14 minutes and is a MUST SEE.
The problems embedded within a number of states and across hundreds–if not thousands–of local municipalities are not going away. Will Uncle Sam need to provide another trillion dollar bailout? Will ‘red states’ be asked to bail out ‘blue states’, perhaps starting with Illinois? Let’s navigate.
Larry Doyle
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I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own and not those of Greenwich Investment Management. As President of Greenwich Investment Management, an SEC regulated privately held registered investment adviser, I am merely a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
Tags: 60 Minutes, bailing out public employee pensions, Chris Christie 60 Minutes December 19 2010, Illinois is a deadbeat, is Illinois broke, Meredith Whitney 60 Minutes December 19 2010, Meredith Whitney on municipal problems, municipal defaults, municipal finance, pension liabilities, problems in municipal finance, public employee pensions, state budgets, State Budgets: Day of Reckoning, Steve Kroft, The Day of Reckoning, threats to US economy, will red states bail out blue states
Posted in General, municipal finance | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 18th, 2010 6:54 AM |

Do we just need to get through the next year or two in order to regain our feet? Really? Do not think that Fed chair Ben Bernanke is not fully aware of what lies ahead on our economic landscape as he hopes and prays for an economic revival. However, as he contemplates the perils of more quantitative easing the stranglehold of future pension obligations continues to put deflationary pressures on our economy. No surprise why Ben and most of his Fed colleagues are bound and determined to create inflation in an attempt to monetize our national debts. For greater focus on the state pension obligations, let’s review a fabulous commentary recently published by The Economist entitled, A Gold-Plated Burden,
CHUCK REED is the Democratic mayor of San Jose, California. You might expect him to be an ally of public-sector workers, a powerful lobby in the Golden State. But last month, at a hearing on pension reform held by the Little Hoover Commission, which monitors the state’s government, Mr Reed lamented his crippling public-pensions bill. “City payments for retirement benefits have tripled over the last ten years even though our workforce has declined dramatically, and we have billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities that the taxpayers must pay,” he said. (more…)
Tags: A Gold-Plated Burden, municipal bankruptcies, municipal bonds vs state pensions, municipal finance, pension liabilities, pension obligations, state pensions, States of Denial, The Economist, unions
Posted in General, pension obligations | 6 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 6th, 2010 9:03 AM |
When central banks hint at implementing further quantitative easing and risk-based assets (commodities and equities) rally and interest rates fall (meaning, bonds rally as well), this is all good, right? If that is the case, is it even better when the hints become an outright statement of plans for more quantitative easing as was the case yesterday with The Bank of Japan? (WSJ: Central Banks Open Spigot; October, 4, 2010)
Clearly, the global central banks are launching these new volleys of quantitative easing in an attempt to forestall deflationary pressures at work underlying our global economy. That said, while asset markets are rising, we need to be aware there are very real costs to this ongoing financial experiment. What are the costs? (more…)
Tags: Bank of Japan quantitative easing, Central Banks Open Spigot, companies with fixed pension liabilities, deflationary pressures, disinflation, Greater Fool Theory, hidden costs of quantitative easing, Paras Anand, pension liabilities, plans for quantitative easing, prices of precious metals, purchasing power of fiat currencies, quantitative easing, risk based assets, what is quantitative easing, who is Paras Anand
Posted in General, quantitative easing | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 27th, 2010 11:34 AM |
Are the ‘waves’ of municipal debt breaking on Miami about to overwhelm the city and force it to declare bankruptcy? Do not rule it out. If Miami goes this route, will that cause a domino effect for other municipalities around the country, including Los Angeles?
The risk of bankruptcy is very real. Thanks to a loyal Sense on Cents reader for bringing the impending financial doom in Miami to our attention. While municipal finances in our country encompass a whole set of issues, a common denominator is the crush of pension liabilities accrued by unions. (more…)
Tags: City of Los Angeles, city of Miami, impending bankruptcy in Miami, Los Angeles, Miami finances, municipal corruption, municipal defaults, municipal finance, pension liabilities, South Beach, why might Miami go bankrupt, will LA go bankrupt, will Miami declare bankruptcy
Posted in General, municipal finance | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 6th, 2010 10:50 AM |
Making promises that can’t be kept.
Garnering support via payback, if not kickbacks.
Effectively misrepresenting expected returns.
Am I talking about Bernie Madoff and every other con artist who has ever perpetrated a Ponzi scheme? No, although I could be. I am addressing the reality of the public pension system in our country. Those participating in public pensions can rail on me all they want. The simple fact is the power and leverage of the public unions combined with the willingness of public officials to sell their souls, while mortgaging our children’s futures, have created a massive gap in the funding of public pension liabilities in our nation today. (more…)
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bernie Madoff, Calpers, calstrs, Democratic party and public unions, entitlement programs, expected returns on pension holdings, financial frauds, financial promises, government control of retirement accounts, government entitlement programs, government IOUs, is California broke?, Larry Fink warns Calpers, mortgaging our childrens future, Obama administration takeover of retirement accounts, pension gaps, pension liabilities, pensions, Ponzi schemes, public officials, public pensions, public unions, Shortfall Awaits California's Big pension Funds, Social Security, Stanford University pension report, underfunded state pensions, University of California Retirement System i, will Uncle sam takeover my IRA
Posted in California, General, IRAs, pension obligations | 9 Comments »