"Over several decades, Louisiana politicians promised far more in benefits than the state was willing or able to pay to its retirees, creating billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities. In 1988, voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring those debts to be paid by 2029. The good news, Pearson says, is the state's major retirement systems are generally on the right track nowadays. But the assets of those systems, and of others around the country, have been rocked by recent downturns in markets around the world. If the turmoil is brief, the big systems should be fine. But if this turns out to be the new normal, all those years of can-kicking have left system officials with few palatable options..."