Friday, May 21, 2010
‘Padded Pensions Add to New York Fiscal Woes'
Sound familiar? ...
I especially liked the chart showing how public-sector employees now get both better pay and pensions compared to those in the private sector -- and keep in mind the comparison is to private-sector firms that still have pensions. The vast majority of private-sector companies no longer provide pensions. So the gap between public- and private-sector workers is much greater than the chart suggests. ... Shouldn't we stop referring to them as "public servants" and just admit we've allowed them to become our "public masters"? Don't you love the fact that they don't pay state or local taxes in retirement while the rest of us do?
Update -- Reader No. 1 writes in:
Sound familiar? ...
I especially liked the chart showing how public-sector employees now get both better pay and pensions compared to those in the private sector -- and keep in mind the comparison is to private-sector firms that still have pensions. The vast majority of private-sector companies no longer provide pensions. So the gap between public- and private-sector workers is much greater than the chart suggests. ... Shouldn't we stop referring to them as "public servants" and just admit we've allowed them to become our "public masters"? Don't you love the fact that they don't pay state or local taxes in retirement while the rest of us do?
Update -- Reader No. 1 writes in:
More public sector stories. In WSJ - Mort Zuckerman (subscription) and John Fund (no subscription required).Update II -- Just read the Walter Russell Mead piece linked immediately above. It's really a brilliant essay on Britain's foreign policy moving forward re Europe, the European Union and the U.S.
And on a distantly indirectly related topic, these thoughts by Walter Russell Mead on the future of the UK.
