The Public Pension Outrage and Alan Greenspan's Pension

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.truth-out.org/the-public-pension-outrage-and-alan-greenspans-pension62358

Monday 16 August 2010

by: Dean Baker, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

In recent weeks, there has been a serious effort by the conservatives and even many centrists to whip up anger at public sector workers over their pensions. The basic story is that public sector workers get better pensions on average than their private sector counterparts. At the same time, most state and local pension funds have large shortfalls, implying that additional government revenue will be needed to keep them solvent.

This is supposed to make people really angry at public sector workers. The right-wing noise factory has been whipping up the hostility at public employees, sensing that they may have another ACORN on their hands. A New York Times columnist even called on retired public employees to give back pensions for which they worked and have solid legal claims.


Alan Greenspan. (Photo: talkradionews)


We should recognize the attack on public sector workers for what it is: a sleazy case of scapegoating that it is intended to divert people's attention from the real villains in this economy, the Wall Street boys and the inept economic policymakers who took the economy to ruin and seem intent on leaving it there.

The basic facts are straightforward. Adjusting for education and experience, public sector workers actually get paid slightly less on average than their counterparts in the private sector. It is likely that the lower pay is largely or fully offset by a better benefit package, but it is likely that the difference in benefit packages between public and private sector workers is not as large as it may seem.

First, it is important to realize that public sector workers are far more likely to have a college or advanced degree than the population as a whole. While most workers have little by way of a defined benefit or defined contribution pension, most workers with college or advanced degrees can count on being entitled to at least a modest pension income in retirement.

Second, many public sector workers are not covered by Social Security. This means that whatever they get from a government pension will be the bulk of their retirement income; it will not be a supplement to their Social Security benefits. With this in mind, the $22,000 pension that an average retired public employer received in 2007 hardly seems excessive.

FULL story at link.

[applegrove]

1. Now public servants are objects of hate. Who is left?