[dredmorbius]

Thanks. The cited Lincoln Institute of Land Policy study also addresses this directly: "Pension Legacy Costs and Local government Finances"

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/pension... (PDF)

The similarity (referenced by the Wikipedia article) to technical debt was what I'd been thinking. More generally, markets and social-political systems have trouble recognising long-term risks and liabilities generally.

Both are forms of debt.

See also Adam Smith's growing vs. declining nations discussion in Wealth of Nations.