European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 b the stars and stripes wednesday november 27.1991 Money matters Ion underfunding crisis feared taxpayers May be stuck insurers warn by Jill Dutt new Day warning that a crisis is brewing the Federal Agency that insures pensions reported monday that 50 big . Companies have promised a but have not yet set aside Money to pay for a nearly $21.5 billion Worth of pension payments. The size of the funding Gap has jumped by More than 50 percent in the past year. A we must Stem the increase in pension underfunding before we have a crisis a said James b. Lockhart executive director of the pension Benefit guaranty corp. A if companies do not pay the pensions they Promise and pm go cannot fulfil its obligations retirees will be at risk and taxpayers May end up paying for promises they did not  the pm go insures Basic pension payments to 40 million workers up to $2,250 a month. The Agency has been supported by insurance premiums from the 97,000 corporate pension plans it insures but Lockhart warned that a taxpayer bailout of the insurance fund might be needed if the recession worsened and More companies dumped pension obligations onto the Agency which had $3.3 billion in assets at the end of last year. Meanwhile monday a Federal judge approved the pension Agency a takeover effective last july 31, of pan am  underfunded pension plans. The Date limits benefits to certain pan am employees. The companies with the biggest unfunded liabilities Are general motors corp., Chrysler corp. And Ltd corp. Only Ltd however poses an immediate threat because it is in bankruptcy proceedings and its pension funds have assets of Only $204 million compared with $3.4 billion Worth of Benefit promises guaranteed by the Federal government. Pm has assets of nearly $35 billion in its pension funds to pay for $42 billion in pension promises leaving it $7.1 billion Short. A big part of that shortfall however is made up of promises the automaker made in Union contracts that by Law the company has 18 years to fully fund. Chrysler meanwhile has $5 billion in assets in its pension plan but has made $8.4 billion in pension promises. It recently contributed Stock in lieu of Cash to its pension plan. Other companies with big unfunded pension liabilities include new York based Loews corp., with Only $101 million in assets to cover $239 million in pension promises pain Webber group with $78 million in assets to cover $125 million and trans world airlines with $1.1 billion in assets covering $1.3 billion. This is the third year the pension Agency has reported on the 50 biggest underfunded plans a list its critics Call the a Jiffy fifty because the Agency lists shortfalls As if the companies were to file bankruptcy immediately and dump All their pension obligations. Some of the big companies that the pm go says pose risks to the insurance fund were allowed to skim a a excess Cash out of their pension funds in the 1980s.  a Sumii a 7 biggest unfunded liabilities pension promises pension assets $35 billion $8.4 billion $5 billion $3.4 billion $204 million general motors corp. $42 billion Chrysler corp. Ltd corp. Trans world airlines $1.3 billion $1.1 billion Loews corp. $239 million $101 million pain Webber group $125 million $78 millions amps Wes Booher Twa chairman Carl Icahn plans a Quick bankruptcy reorganization of his debt Ridden airline in january but pm go negotiators Are afraid the Agency will be stuck with the pension liabilities. The Senate this weekend passed an amendment that would make it tougher for Icahn to shed the liabilities but it is unclear whether the measure will pass the House. Brings vision of housing shortage credit bind by Ellen James Martin the Baltimore Sun with unsold Homes dotting the landscape it seems hard to believe. But housing specialists say that a serious shortage of new Homes could be looming for Many of the nations markets in 1992. That a because Money Short builders and developers now have so few units in the pipeline that when the recession eases they will not be Able to keep up with demand especially from entry level buyers. A the shortage will be generated by Low mortgage rates which will Stoke demand and the Economy which will Grope its Way to recovery a said John Tuccillo chief economist for the Washington based National association of realtors. While his group believes that demand for new single family Homes in the United. States will reach 1.5 million units in 1992, just 1.1 million will be produced Tuccillo said. His assessment is shared by Many in the real estate Field. A the irony is that As the recession lifts and people Are Able to afford new Homes there wont be enough to go around a said Arthur Davis Iii president of Chase Fitzgerald a Baltimore based realty company. Ltd housing specialists say that tight Bank credit is the main reason Why construction of detached Homes and town houses has fallen to so far in the last two years. Developers need Bank financing to buy land and prepare lots. And builders need construction financing to put up the new Homes. A a there a so Little financing that what inventory you had has been pretty much taken up a said David Webb head of the real estate group of Merrill Lynch amp co. In new York. Even though new Home construction has dropped substantially the slowdown has not been a problem to Date because the recession has kept a Damper on demand housing specialists say. But As the Economy improves a and Many economists believe that will happen in mid to late 1992 a the shortfall in new Home construction will become apparent they said. A a we re clearly under building for our total housing requirements in this country a said Lynn Michaelis chief economist for Weyerhaeuser corp., a National building materials company based in Tacoma Wash. Taking into account both detached Homes and town houses the United states is now producing 300,000 to. 400,000 fewer housing units than it normally needs per year to meet demand Michaelis said. The under build problem will become More and More evident in late 1992 and 1993,�?� he said. Many associated with the realty Industry have a hard time picturing any sort of Home shortage. Although mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest Levels in 14 years demand is generally weak and the inventory of resale properties has grown. But once the Economy strengthens and demand picks up a the resale properties will get stopped up real fast Michaelis said. Unless the Banks ease credit restraints that have inhibited the ability of developers to create new building lots for builders a we could really Start to see a single family squeeze by 1993,�?� he  teen agers Are out looking for work by John Cunniff the associated press new York a to those who study the situation it is something of an economic mystery a social danger and perhaps a threat to americans future teen age participation in the labor Force is declining. 1 his is not the teen age Job problem you hear so much about. 1 hat is it is not the problem of teen age unemployment which is terribly High at 18 percent. This problem May be even worse it concerns teenagers who Arentt even counted. Failure to participate in the labor Force a that is even to seek work a is an aspect of the Job Market that tends to be forgotten in americans concern about unemployment. To be a unemployed a one must be an Active Job seeker. Since the latter part of 1989, however Many teenagers have not been actively seeking jobs. Since that time participation by teen agers in the labor Force has dropped off steadily and is now below 50 percent. Nobody can say with certainty the reason for the fall from a rate above 55 percent a few years ago but Many agree it represents a problem that if not checked can cause serious economic and social repercussions. Various analysts attribute the falloff to a decline in the expansion of retail outlets a reduction of consumer service outlays and a Lack of necessary skills by teenagers. The decline of teen age participation is sometimes also overshadowed by a changes in labor Force activity by other groups including a decline among men in their 50s and a slowdown m the percentage growth of female participation. Many agree however that it is the teen age situation that is most puzzling and perhaps most alarming since it involves the likelihood of lowered living standards skilled labor shortages unemployment and related social problems. Government figures show a 38 percent unemployment rate for Black teen agers. Less Well known is that the rate would be even higher if other Black teen agers had not Given up looking for work. If you done to look you re not counted. One reason for not looking of course is the difficulty that inexperienced and unskilled youths have in getting a foot m the door. But a non profit group that studied the situation finds american business not especially concerned. At the same time it is known that much of Industry a future labor Force must be recruited from minorities Many of whom require considerable training. The Issue is two pronged will these workers have jobs and will Industry have workers who can be promoted to greater responsibility and higher productivity ? profit group commission on the skills of the american workforce found . Compa Nten Nna a Quot Ade utile Effort t0 Quot improve skills m2? k comm Sion headed by Ray Marshall and William Brock both former labor secretaries recommended in 1990 that employers be re san r no 5 ends t0 up8rade the abilities of the non College educated work Force. Significantly it said that a serious problem existed a the worst of any industrialized country a in the process of moving youngsters from High school to Industry. Snapped"11 the it schoo a to work connection has cridsiiiv0lt?i,Inin?.�?T , and inability to think critically on the Job results in less than top productivity. Inh in tue Din mushes the competitiveness of Industry and Lowers the living standards of the nation. A run nth i current decline in teen age participation in the labor Force and teen age unemployment is the entire nations Challenge now and in the future. A