New Jersey Has a Pension Shortfall Equal to 0.3 Percent of Its GDP

The Washington Post told readers that New Jersey's public pension face a shortfall of $40 billion. Just in case some readers aren't familiar with the size of New Jersey's economy over the next 30 years (the relevant period for pension planning), it will have a discounted state product of more than $12 trillion. This means that the shortfall is roughly equal to 0.3 percent of future GDP. This is considerably larger than the shortfall faced by most states.