Solving the Public Pension Crisis

December 2, 2016

Underfunded public employee pensions are one of the major fiscal crises confronting American states and municipalities. It is estimated that the shortfall is as much as $1 trillion and payments to retirees increasingly are diverting funds for necessary services, including police, fire, schools, roads, and other core services.

Efforts at reform have run into increasing legal roadblocks, whether in bankruptcy court or under state law. This Public Policy Conference brought together leading scholars and commentators for a full-spectrum review of the law, economics, political economy, and public policy issues regarding public employee pensions and pension reform. The proceedings of the Conference will be published in a special symposium issue of Scalia Law’s Journal of Law, Economics & Policy.

Agenda and Speaker Biographies

The Political Economy of Public Pensions and Pension Reform

Panelists:

Anthony Randazzo, Director of Economic Research, Reason Foundation

Scott A. Shepard, Professor of Law

Steven Malanga, George M. Yeager Fellow, Manhattan Institute and Senior Editor, City Journal

Amy B. Monahan, The Melvin Steen and Corporate Donors Professor, University of Minnesota Law School

Moderator:

Edwin T. Burton, Professor of Economics, University of Virginia

Public Employee Pensions In Transition – Economic And Empirical Issues

Panelists:

Richard T. Boylan, Professor of Economics, Rice University

Brigham R. Frandsen, Assistant Professor of Economics, Brigham Young University

Robert P. Inman, Richard King Mellon Professor of Finance, Professor of Business Economics & Public Policy, and Professor of Real Estate, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Mark J. Warshawsky, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Moderator:

The Honorable Thomas M. Davis, Director, Federal Government Affairs, Deloitte

Luncheon Keynote – The Puerto Rico Challenge: A Preliminary Report from Puerto Rico Oversight Board

Keynote Speaker:

David A. Skeel, S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School and Member, Puerto Rico Oversight Board

Legal Issues Regarding Pension Reform

Panelists:

Adam Marcus, Senior Grants Writer, Institute for Humane Studies

Diane Lourdes Dick, Associate Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law

Richard M. Hynes, John Allan Love Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

Jack M. Beermann, Professor of Law and Harry Elwood Warren Scholar, Boston University School of Law

Moderator:

The Honorable Thomas B. Bennett (RET.), Partner, Bailey Glasser LLP

Proposals For Reform

Panelists:

Odd J. Stalebrink, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Pennsylvania State University

Eileen C. Norcross, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Sheila A. Weinberg, Founder and CEO, Truth in Accounting

Andrew G. Biggs, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute and Member, Puerto Rico Oversight Board

William Glasgall, Director, State and Local Program, The Volcker Alliance

Moderator:

Pete Constant, Executive Director, Retirement Security Initiative