-- 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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Karma is a real pia when you play political games with covid. Just sayin…
Also, any downtown office building BJ wants to convert to apartments would be one less building available for office workers.
Unemployment is down.. but not in CHI. Crimes, especially murders are down greatly.. but not in CHI. Several major cities are showing a surplus of revenue and aren’t billions of dollars under water… but not in CHI. New residents and businesses are flocking to some urban areas.. but not to CHI. It’s enough to think the mayor and city council would wonder what is going on and how to fix it… except in CHI.
What’s the vacancy rate in the Loop and the Mag Mile? Reaching somewhere near 30%? Not a good sign. Lightfoot and Pritzker killed should be charged with murdering Chicago.
Your watching the fall of a once great city. The bottom has not been hit yet. Excessive City spending and poor city services is starting to bite them in the A$$. Downtown will not come back anytime soon. The buildings are being foreclosed and then being sold for a fraction of what they where once worth. The free market says what they think of the chances of downtown coming back.
Visited the Loop last month for lunch. Not the Loop I remembered from my downtown days of the early 1990s Back then, lunch hour was a giant open air singles bar, with well dressed office workers off to lunch and shop afterwards. But now it’s largely deserted. Most people you see don’t look like they have a job — or a good reason to be there. Downtown’s Doom Loop is not going away — office and retail vacancy continues to climb. I used to enjoy having visitors from out of town. I’d take them out and show off Michigan Avenue… Read more »