This unfunded liability is, in part, an overhang from the stock market bubble, as inflated asset values led companies to effectively undercontribute to pension funds, as, in fact, they were required to undercontribute by law. Real reform would correct this defect in pension rules, but, of course, the trend is to attempt to eliminate defined benefit plans in favor of "market-based" plans that would transfer risk onto workers, even as the assault on Social Security continues...

I agree with John on this except for the Social Security assault. SS reform is dead in the water. The only people who will be assaulting SS within the next 10 years will be baby-boomers asking for their $1000 checks every month.

Am I the only one who things that pension funds should be legally required to be full reserve? How many corporations have collapsed into disarray, leaving workers penniless after a lifetime while CEO and other acronyms walk away with millions? If an entity with the multitrillion-dollar resources of the US government can't run this scheme, what makes them think they can? Nobody learns.