Aug. 5 (Bloomberg View) — The New York Times has a lengthy and dismaying article on the problems with New York City's pensions:

Next year alone, the city will set aside for pensions more than $8 billion, or 11 percent of the budget. That is an increase of more than 12 times from the city's outlay in 2000, when the payments accounted for less than 2 percent of the budget.

But instead of getting smaller, the city's pension hole just keeps getting bigger, forcing progressively more significant cutbacks in municipal programs and services every year. Like pension systems everywhere, New York City's has been strained by a growing retiree population that is living longer, global market conditions and other factors.