Pension 'crisis' is a myth

Another Juan Gonzalez report. - Vox
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/382000p-324354c.html
"Sure, City Hall and the MTA are right to claim that during the past two years employer contributions to pension plans jumped dramatically.
But they never tell you that employer contributions to all city pension funds plummeted steadily for more than 20 years, until they reached nearly zero."
"The booming stock market of the 1990s created such huge returns for pension funds that many employers, including the city, virtually stopped contributing new money."
"Even in those years when City Hall virtually stopped paying, most city employees were still required to pay at least 3% of their own salaries into the pension system. The surplus was so huge that both Giuliani and Gov. Pataki backed major benefit increases for city unions in 2000.
Then the market tanked."
"Pensions are not out of control," said John Murphy, former director of the city's main pension fund. "They're the most predictable type of expense. Some people just don't want to pay their bills."

- Vox