California Dreaming

Name: California Dreaming
Author: https://www.simonandschuster.biz/authors/Lawrence-J-McQuillan/238970055
ISBN: 9781598132434

Lessons on How to Resolve America's Public Pension Crisis

By Lawrence J. McQuillan

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About The Book

A politically created crisis of epic proportions is brewing in California and elsewhere across the United States.

For decades, public pension officials and politicians of both parties have promised their employees increasingly generous retirement benefits—while low-balling the contributions from government agencies and employees that are needed to cover these promises—presenting our greatest financial challenge since the Great Depression.

Pushing the pension liability from today and onto our children and grandchildren leaves them with a depleted future and a potentially bankrupt California.

State and local governments will scramble to find funds, forcing them to raise taxes, slash public services, and/or declare bankruptcy.
Schools, parks, emergency services, and public-employee retirement benefits will be at risk.
Politicians will defer until circumstances force them to reckon with a disaster of their own making.

The problem? For far too long, state and local governments have promised their employees increasingly generous retirement benefits—but without ensuring that sufficient funds will be on hand when the pension payments come due.

In California Dreaming, Lawrence J. McQuillan pulls back the curtains covering this unfunded liability crisis. He describes the true extent of the problem, explains the critical factors that are driving public pension debt sky-high, and exposes the perverse incentives of lawmakers and pension officials that reward them for not fixing the problem and letting it escalate. Finally, he offers the six crucial reforms needed to restore the financial health of California and other threatened jurisdictions.

If California Dreaming’s roadmap for reform is adopted, the prospects for achieving a thriving, balanced and equitable future are highly favorable in California and any state or municipality facing its own public pension problem. If not, the many opportunities that once made the Golden State seem like a Promised Land will quickly evaporate.

About The Author

Lawrence J. McQuillan

Lawrence J. McQuillan is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Entrepreneurial Innovation at the Independent Institute. He received his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, and he has served as Chief Economist at the Illinois Policy Institute, Director of Business and Economic Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Founding Publisher and Contributing Editor of Economic Issues. He lives in Fremont, California.

Product Details

Publisher: Independent Institute (July 1, 2015)
Length: 192 pages
ISBN13: 9781598132434

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Raves and Reviews

“Mayors, governors, and other policymakers around the country are struggling to maintain services while paying for the skyrocketing costs of public employee retirement benefits. California Dreaming explains why it is so difficult to solve this problem and identifies a key framework for solutions.”

– Chuck Reed, former Mayor, City of San Jose, California

“Lawrence McQuillan's California Dreaming is a superb, wake-up call to all those depending on generous pensions from state and local governments—they simply won't be there, or at least in the amounts expected. The book is also a wake-up call to California taxpayers—who will be shocked to learn of the huge tax liabilities they face. McQuillan explains how governments have created this mess and offers sensible reforms to end the crisis and preserve retirement benefits—without bankrupting taxpayers.”

– James C. Miller III, former Director, U.S. Office of Management and Budget; former Chairman, Federal Trade Commission; former Executive Director, Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief

“California Dreaming is a horrifying must-read that exposes the steal-as-you-go policies driving the state (and our country) straight down the tubes!”

– Laurence J. Kotlikoff, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Professor of Economics, Boston University; former Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisers

“Unfunded public pensions and healthcare are the greatest threats to government financial stability in our country. Over 80% of the government bodies in California are headed for bankruptcy for owing more than a half trillion dollars in unfunded pension and healthcare debt. Mounting debt will force the closing of public libraries, parks, and schools. Police and fire services will be cut, streets will be in disrepair, and we will find ourselves living in a Third World country. Lawrence McQuillan’s outstanding book California Dreaming spells out these disasters about to happen with perfect clarity.”

– Richard J. Riordan, former Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California

“California Dreaming is as important as an early warning of an impending tsunami. Ignoring its message would be equally irresponsible. Underfunding fixed pension benefits for California employees with an inadequate portfolio of risky assets will eventually fail catastrophically. Almost everyone, particularly future taxpayers, will suffer. As with a tsunami warning, quick action offers the opportunity of minimizing the damage from current policies. Lawrence McQuillen offers a thoughtful menu of policy reforms which would improve the situation dramatically.”

– John B. Shoven, Charles R. Schwab Professor of Economics and Trione Director of the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, Stanford University