-- 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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The authors blame remote working, but conveniently ignore the elephant in the room. Rampant crime with no prosecution and therefore no consequences for the criminals. Chicago will continue to see business activity and house / condo prices push lower until the city and county leaders get crime under control.
If history is any indication, it will be a generation or longer before the city and county get crime under control again. Chart below, from WP! shows that when crime becomes elevated, it stays elevated. This article complaining that living in a 2/2 city condo ordering Uber eats isnt cool any more is going to be the nuclear bomb for Chicago, as the pipeline of Big 10 grads dries up because they aren’t moving to Illinois to live in Schaumburg or Oak Brook.