Public vs. private

In 2009, the average state or local public employee received $39.66 in total compensation per hour versus $27.42 for private workers. For every $1 in pay and benefits a private employee earned, a state or local government worker received $1.45. - Wall Street Journal

As the Financial Times noted earlier this year, federal workers make twice what private workers make, on average. The ratio for state and local workers is less, but those governments are also in much worse shape than the feds (since they can't print money). The pension overhang alone is vast and unsupportable. Meanwhile, my own city of Berkeley is proposing to address its fiscal crisis by laying off garbage collectors, who - as I far as I can see - work hard for a living. I don't think they're the problem. ("The Government Pay Boom," WSJ, 26 March 2010, page A18.)