-- 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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Converting space to affordable housing is not a solution. Office buildings don’t have the plumbing, electrical or other infrastructure for residential living and it is prohibitively expensive to convert it. But more important, affordable tenants don’t support expensive downtown stores, restaurants, bars and clubs, so getting more low income folks downtown only exacerbates the problem. As Mark says, the only real solution is to get office occupancy back up by making the central business districts more attractive. Unfortunately, the socialists in the mayor’s office and the city council don’ know how to do that. And they might not want to… Read more »
Sorry those about whom you speak of are MAXISTS know ones EMENY