This excerpt originally appeared in National Review Online on May 29, 2012.

For the city to fully fund its pensions, it must increase its annual contributions threefold, to $51 million. That means cutting a gigantic amount of “other” spending. Mayors, like governors and congressman, do not like hard choices and spending cuts. That’s too bad, because if the city keeps its head in the sand, it is likely to experience a severe crisis within the next ten years.