Cost of Insuring Illinois Debt from Default Hits All-Time High; Illinois Pension Fund Loses $Billions in OTC Derivatives Positions

Congratulations of sorts go to the State of Illinois for having the most hopelessly underfunded pension plans in the US and also one of the biggest per capita budget deficits.

Topping off the misery, the Illinois Teachers Retirement System is losing money in risky derivatives bets in what one analyst says amounts to “collecting nickels ahead of the bulldozer.”