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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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That s some truly wishful thinking. The state can t just walk away from bond obligations. If the courts eventually do rule against Illinois (which I seriously doubt, but it s the courts, so one never knows for sure), Illinois will have to make bondholders whole or undoubtedly face serious consequences with the credit ratings agencies. It can t just walk away from billions in debt – even with a judicial ruling – and not expect a major downgrade into junk stat 2005 us. After all, most of the same institutions which now hold those old bonds are the ones… Read more »