Since the onset of the Great Recession, Americans have become familiar with the term “volatility.”

And they have come to know that, for many, volatile fluctuations in financial and investment markets are not just theoretical data points. They can cost real people real money, because retirement savings are bolstered or consumed, depending on the markets’ movements.

But as public pensions account for an ever-larger share of government spending in Illinois and elsewhere, the public may soon find another reason to monitor the volatility: potential tax increases – or, at the least, difficult public spending choices for a number of taxing bodies.