U.S. public pension crisis - redressing finances

John Fitzpatrick, Secretary General of The Geneva Association, on redressing the finances of underfunded U.S. public pensions plans.

While there have been several municipal bankruptcies over time, on 3 December 2013, Detroit became the largest city in the U.S. to be legally eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Its ballooning deficits and large pension shortfall are characteristic of municipal bankruptcy cases. Across the country, states have posted pension funding shortfalls of over a trillion dollars. A report published by The Geneva Association, "The Public Pensions Crisis in the U.S." proposes that non-payment of annual required contributions and an unbalanced structure to pension planning are among the most significant challenges to overcome.