CALIFORNIA PENSION CRISIS UPDATE: Largest public pension fund earns dismal 1 percent. “The nation’s largest public pension fund collected a dismal 1 percent annual return on its investments, a figure far short of projections that will likely bring pressure on California’s state and local governments to contribute more money, officials said Monday. The return reported by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System was well below its projected return of 7.5 percent for the fiscal year that ended June 30 and is prompting administrators to consider changes to investment strategies.”

Key bit: “You just can’t rely on these optimistic assumptions that somehow the investment returns are going to be so great that you don’t have to worry about paying for this stuff.” Things that can’t go on forever, won’t. Debts that can’t be paid, won’t be.