First of a three-part series How do you solve a fiscal crisis if you don’t have the right numbers? That is the dilemma facing governors, legislators and would-be reformers around the country trying to deal with the public employee pension crisis.

Faulty accounting practices stipulated by the Government Accounting Standards Board have allowed state retirement systems to dramatically underestimate their pension deficits. In most states, the trustees of these funds have not provided the right data or even agreed to release it. This cover-up stands in the way of designing the reforms needed to fix the most serious calamity facing state and local finances.

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