One of the big topics of discussions in the right side of the blogosphere lately has been how the pay and benefits of public employees has contributed to the current fiscal emergency our nation now faces. Of particular interest is how unfunded pensions are causing a budget crises every fiscal year.
The Buckeye Institute, which the local news media dubbed a “conservative think tank” here in Ohio, has a searchable database that lists the salary of every public school teacher in this state. They even go so far as to include the estimated pensions that the educators have coming.
This will probably become something that every state will have, and it has been a long time coming.
If money is fungible, then isn’t all the other spending done in the past also part of the problem, not just retiree pensions?
The problem with pensions is that while the promises to pay were made in the past, most of the actual paying is done now.
In the late 1970s, the Des Moines Register published the names and salaries of every teacher in Des Moines.
In Australia, newspapers regularly publish the grades of college students. (I think there is a strong argument for publishing those grades here — if the student is receiving a government scholarship or loan.)
In Norway, citizens (and, I suppose, non-citizens) can look up the income tax returns for everyone who files.
So there are a few precedents worth thinking about.