Daily Digest 3/28 - KY Pension Bill On Life Support, U.S. Student Debt Is Harsh Math Lesson

Economy

A measles outbreak in ailing Venezuela is threatening Colombia and Brazil

According to new figures from the Pan American Health Organization, Venezuela has seen 886 cases of measles since June, including 159 cases this year alone.
The second-biggest outbreak in the hemisphere this year is Brazil, with 14 cases, and all of them were imported from neighboring Venezuela. Colombia has also reported three confirmed cases, all from Venezuela.

Kentucky pension bill still on ‘life support,’ says sponsor

Bowen focused on the most controversial aspect of his bill: a proposal that would cut retired teachers’ 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment to 1 percent until the pension plan is 90 percent funded. It is now 56.4 percent funded, with an unfunded liability of $14.3 billion.

Connecticut faces vote on $550M bailout for distressed capital Hartford

Under the deal, adopted in October as a part of the state budget, Connecticut would cover Hartford’s annual debt payments over the course of the next two decades. The city’s debt obligations are expected to exceed $56 million by 2021.

Cash-strapped Alaska eyes earnings from oil wealth fund

After oil started flowing from Alaska’s North Slope in the late 1970s, so did the checks, which eventually were paid with earnings from an oil-wealth fund that’s grown to about $65 billion through investments. Times were so good, the state in 1980 repealed its personal income tax, a decision that has been politically impossible to undo as the state grapples with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

Bond traders face supply test, as close to $300 billion of Treasurys sold this week

Fixed-income traders will face another record-busting week of issuance, with money managers, pension funds and foreign central banks expected to take down $294 billion of fresh debt.

Chicago Public Schools' huge pension debt just got $1 billion deeper, new estimates show

Consultants for the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund now conclude the system is about $11 billion in the red and faces an even steeper climb to comply with a state law that requires it to be 90 percent funded by 2059, financial documents show.

Student Debt Is a Harsh Math Lesson for U.S. Graduates

Since 2003, borrowing for education in percentage terms has outpaced all other types of consumer debt that includes mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show. As of the fourth quarter, student loans represented 10.5 percent of a record $13.1 trillion in household debt, up from 3.3 percent at the start of 2003.

Gold & Silver

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