Red Jahncke hits the nail on the head: “Falling Markets Will Crush Government Budgets” (op-ed, May 17). He emphasizes declining tax revenues, but the fall in the markets will have at least two other major adverse budgetary impacts worth noting.
First, tens of millions of Americans are receiving income from pension funds… For state and local governments, where many pension funds are already only around 70% funded, this will force bigger employee or government contributions, benefit reductions or both.
Second, rising interest rates are going to sharply increase the interest payments of the federal government to bondholders.
Read the entire Letter to the Editor in The Wall Street Journal