A movement is afoot that would require public pension plans to calculate and publish their market value of liabilities, also known as the plan's termination liability. A termination liability requires using a risk-free rate of investment return--generally around four to five percent--to discount liabilities, rather than a return based on a diversified portfolio, which is generally seven to eight percent.  Corporate pension plans are required to calculate a MVL, chiefly so that in the case of bankruptcy or sale of the firm, the plan's liabilities are known.

Primary arguments against requiring public pension plans to calculate and publish a MVL are 1) public entities, such as states and cities, are essentially perpetual and will not go out of business or be acquired; and 2) participants in public pension plans generally are entitled to continue accruing benefits once those benefits have been established. MVL opponents believe that these factors render a MVL figure irrelevant. MVL opponents further believe that one consequence of a MVL would be to significantly--and needlessly--inflate the plan's current and projected required costs.

The MVL issue has been referred to as Financial Economics. However, FE is a broader discipline that encompasses more than just the MVL issue. The resources below are intended to inform the MVL discussion.