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Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Here’s a story on Citadel from Yahoo. According to the article JB says it’s not a blow to the city. But Kellogg is moving to Chicago. Now JB can have unlimited Frosted Flakes(or Mini Wheats) as can the rest of the state. Instead of property tax relief we will all get a coupon for a cereal of our choice.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/ken-griffins-citadel-move-punch-195714878.html
Chicago’s time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it, Chicago has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. Everyday, the world watches as Chicago destroys itself.
Guess he just realized he wasted 50 million backing Richard Irwin for governor.
That could be part of it, though he and his family have already moved and it takes a long while to make a decision this big.
How many Illinois middle class taxpayers and small businesses will it take to pick up the slack of this one exodus?
A little bit more from every one of them. And then more and more as the exodus continues.
When Griffin moves out that means JB moves up one notch on the richest people list in Illinois. He’ll brag about that no doubt. But here’s an article saying JB is the former governor #9 on the list. Do they know something we don’t?
https://www.iheart.com/content/2021-04-09-meet-the-richest-people-in-illinois/
The number of dunderheads cheering the move of a company with hundreds of six-figure salaries, the same professional jobs that keep state and local governments afloat, is mind-numbing. The financial and technical knowledge, influence, and pedigree Citadel is taking with them is irreplaceable. There are downstream impacts in related sectors that people can’t begin to fathom.
And most of his 1,000 ‘ees will move to Miami to their new offices.
Ken G himself pays over $200M in state income taxes each year and his
‘ees pay over $100M. And how much commercial and residential prop taxes
will be lost? Pritzker & Lightfoot better wake up & smell the coffee,
but they probably won’t. They should cut the size of govt, amend the state constitution and cut pensions, and cut residential & commercial prop taxes, maybe even cut state income taxes.
I think they’ll do that! As soon as pigs are flying like birds..
The communist destroys and after surveying the landscape of the destruction, they look for the next target. The communist does not care that Griffin is leaving. They celebrate it.
The state is losing more than just a high-profile investment firm, it’s losing a man who has made multimillion-dollar donations to support the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute, U of C. He even financed the lakefront path improvements.
The public has no idea how much money that takes from the state. It’s not just him but many wealthy employees, and other leading funds that have spun off from Citadel. We will take a shot at estimating the impact.
A quick comparison of the Miami mayor to LL will show who’s real, and who’s a hack.
Mark,
They don’t care! You and I can help make up the difference. Griffin has threatened to leave in the past. I’m sure Arbuckle HogHead knows the swindle to fill the vacuum.
If you factor all-in employee income taxes, corporate income taxes, real estate taxes, etc. Citadel is almost 20% of the tax revenue for the state. Let that sink in. Get ready homeowners and taxpayers, they’ll be coming to you to make it up. Chicago as a financial hub ? Who are you kidding. It hasn’t been a financial hub since they closed the trading floors. When ten year bonds, eurodollars, grains, currencies and stock indexes actually traded here. We are just a data center now, and even that is going to leave soon. CME will now try to leverage Beetlejuice,… Read more »
Are you saying Beetlejuice doesn’t know how to negotiate? She kept the Bears in Chicago, oh wait, never mind.
The stark difference between IL and FL, and Chicago and Miami. Wow! FL may be the most free, prosperous Red State in America.
CHI-EXIT/IL-EXIT UPDATE — CORPORATE CONGA LINE IS LEAVING CHICAGO: Another Vacancy For Once Great Retail Destination Michigan Avenue (Before It Was Trashed, Looted, And Torched By Black Lives Matter Rioters In 2020, And Then Became An Unflushed Crime Toilet) — Global Mega Retailer H&M Is Dumping Its Michigan Avenue Retail Space – Crain’s Chicago Business; Dallas Vs. Chicago? On Jobs, Population And Housing, The Growth Story Isn’t Even Close – Dallas Morning News; New Jersey, Illinois And California Have Highest Concentration Of Vulnerable Housing Markets – Attom Data; Ken Griffin And Citadel Are Calling It Quits, Chicago — Headed To… Read more »
Another notch in the accomplishments (or lack of) by the Pritzker administration and the Chicago mayor. What are all the opposing candidates saying about this in their endless bashing of each other on every station 24/7?
They should be happy. It will make it easier to take another bite at the fair tax amendment. Who will finance the opposition for round 2?
Bill, go ahead and try. Make my day.
Mark, who is going to finance your preferred candidates and initiatives now? This is bad news for ILGOP but not for democrats. Your Clint Eastwood line will be of no use.
You mean Fox Bend in Oswego? Bill as in Willie?
I like Fox Bend; I like all GC’s even the goat tracks!
That well is already poisoned, Bill. Enough people already have it flowing through their veins that the fair tax will lead to taxing retirement income and future tax hikes on everyone else. You don’t need another $50M to remind voters otherwise. Besides, JB already proved he didn’t need it. He keeps bragging how great we’re doing without it.
JB had a perfect storm to get the fair tax passed: A huge Dem turnout with a rabid anti-Trump base along with organized labor and social-justice orgs going full bore. JB still failed miserably.
They’re doing cartwheels over at capitalfax, they think this is great. CME and others not far behind. How long before petty Lori sends all the city building inspectors over to Citadel to write them up for a bunch of violations.
I can’t even read Oswego Willy’s comments. he’s the stupidest commenter on the internet. Just really, really dumb, and he’s too stupid to even realize how stupid he is. He keeps blaming Rauner like a broken record.
OW lives in his mom’s basement. A sad little dweeb that had his lunch money taken on the playground. He posts 40% of the comments on that blog. All non sensical.
On that one post, he commented 26 times over a 3 hour span. Dude is a sociopath. Kinda sad.
If / when CME goes it’s lights out for Chicago as a Financial hub. Citadel is already a major blow and so was losing our only money center bank 15 years ago. But at least we are getting the public housing museum and abortions.
Capitolfax to Professional Class: Drop Dead
The problem with IL is the people who live here. The cap fax crowd runs the state and they are so full of cope with Ken G’s departure. The commenters blasted FL as being inhospitable (despite twice the population of IL!). Another complained that home insurance bills are too high (like Citadel traders gonna whine about that). Others kept saying crime was worse in Miami that Chicago, pointing to some cites like that soyjack picture where the bald heads and beards are pointing behind them saying “but look, but look!”. Others complained there was no culture. Every excuse in the… Read more »
This is catastrophic.
It is, but I can’t remotely blame Griffin. At this point I don’t know what else to do but to get out of the way and let the beast collapse. Hopefully I can help rebuild afterward.
Catastrophic as it may cascade to the other major trading firms in Chicago, most of whom the public has never heard of. Citadel leaving makes it much more likely that others will follow. This move also solidifies Miami as an attractive financial hub. Trading is one of the last major industries left in Chicago, and the financial impact is way beyond what most people realize. That money filters right down to all the nice suburbs with the big houses and nice schools, and all the better restaurants and high end car dealers. If the CME ever exits, it’s game over.… Read more »
Ataraxis – you nailed it. Griffin may have mentioned crime as the reason for leaving, and while that is difficult to argue with, the governance factors make it challenging to run a global finance business in Illinois, especially in the era of cloud technology. If others including the CME leave or reduce their footprint in Chicago, Chicago is in trouble. It is in trouble already. With pensions and high legacy debt, Chicago has a large amount of overhead. Only a small fraction of the population – a good chunk of them in finance -,can service the debt and overhead. As… Read more »
One more thing, when moves like this are made, they’re permanent. All the money that leaves is a permanent loss for Illinois, never to be fully replaced. Every company and everyone leaving Illinois is never moving back. If you noticed, Griffin said that his work teams asked to move. Once remaining Citadel employees in Chicago hear how well things are going at the new offices, they’ll want to move, too. Even though Griffin said Citadel will maintain employees in Chicago, you can be sure that the number of employees will dwindle over time. For me personally, I would never move… Read more »
I can’t help but believe that the extraordinarily ignorant people sneering or even cheering Griffin’s departure will be retired in AZ or FL I a few years from now fat on their guaranteed pensions.
JB Pritzker to Citadel: “Don’t let the door hit your a$$ on the way out!”
Pretty certain the extremist J.B. Pritzker would add in ‘carnival barker’.