-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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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To straighten out its pension mess, Chicago needs leaders with strong financial backgrounds and independence from public unions.
Brandon Johnson’s political backers are responsible fo at least 2 of those woeful pensions, the Chicago Teachers fund and the Municipal Employees fund. He should be coming into office with some easy solutions.
The pension shortfall was by design. The cash inflow could never have paid for the huge benefits. Not enough money in the world to cover multimillion-dollar pensions for tens of thousands of government workers for over 30 to 40 years. Pensions paid more than the jobs ever did (way more).