Connecticut Gets Beastly Recognition in The Daily Beast.

Using per capita debt and unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities, The Daily Beast ranks the states in order of the long term fiscal mess each faces.  Connecticut places behind Rhode Island, the state with the dubious distinction of having created the most underfunded pension fund. Some of Connecticut’s financial challenges are more formidable than Rhode island’s.  The Constitution State’s projected deficit for FY 2012 is more than 10 times greater than Rhode Island’s.

There are numerous ways to measure a state’s economic health.  The Daily Beast has constructed a reasonable one that shows how perilous the state’s future is after years of leaders neglecting the gathering storm.

Read the article, “States Most Likely to Go Bankrupt”, here.

See Connecticut’s place in the grim gallery.

UPDATE: A New York Times report on financial rating service Moody’s decision to begin including a state’s unfunded pension obligations in its assessment of state finances. Connecticut wins the unhappy distinction of having accumulated the highest unfunded per capita burden.