I was going to reply with just this. Detroit ran out of money because it was routinely overpaying pensioners for decades. The people who are suffering are the p

I was going to reply with just this. Detroit ran out of money because it was routinely overpaying pensioners for decades. The people who are suffering are the people who've not yet received any pension that they were promised. Many people who were already getting pensions were getting more than they were promised, causing (in part) the bankruptcy. NYT article from September about just this: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/undisclosed-payments-cost-detroit-pension-plan-billions/ http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/undisclosed-payments-...