-- 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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I have to disagree that the pensions are on the verge of collapse. Illinois has plenty taxing ability to even the point of taxes becoming confiscatory and guess what? The voters voted for it.
Agreed RB. Though in fairness to the author, it’s much harder to gain attention to a matter if you state that pensions could run into some real trouble 20 years down the line and taxes will need to be raised to cover the short fall.