Public Pensions, Once Off Limits, Face Budget Cuts
Conventional wisdom and the laws and constitutions of many states have long held that the pensions being earned by current government workers are untouchable. But as the fiscal crisis has lingered,...
View ArticleFaltering Rhode Island City Tests Vows to Pensioners
But investors who bought the city’s bonds could do much better: Rhode Island recently passed a law intended to make sure that they would be paid in full, even in bankruptcy. Retirees are wondering how...
View ArticleLeaders in Greece Agree to Deal to Form a Unity Government
The agreement appeared to break a political deadlock that had paralyzed Greece in the face of an acute financial crisis that threatened to infect other euro-zone nations, especially Italy. European...
View ArticleAs Public Sector Sheds Jobs, Black Americans Are Hit Hard
At 34, Mr. Buckley, his two daughters and his fiancée have moved into the basement of his mother’s house. He has had to delay his marriage, and his entire savings, $27,000, is gone. “I was the kind of...
View ArticleBrazil Seethes Over Public Officials’ ‘Super Salaries’
While civil servants in Europe and the United States have had their pay slashed or jobs eliminated altogether, some public employees in Brazil are pulling down salaries and benefits that put their...
View ArticleWholesale Inventories Fall
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday wholesale inventories dropped 0.5 percent during the month, confounding the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters, who expected an increase. The data led...
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