-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
More housing. More transit. More power. Less waiting.
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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
”… they have to show that government can actually build what it intends to build…” – That’s all you need to know.
Abundance: always promised by leftists, never materializes due to leftists running out of OPM to seize to pay for it.
The real problem with progressives running Chicago and Illinois is that despite their claim of moral superiority, they all get seduced by money. They suddenly are in a position to see a big pot of money, and they want a slice for themselves. And to guarantee even more cash coming their way they let their PAC buddies dictate terms and conditions so that they get a slice too. What’s left are projects started with good intentions that never ever reach their goal.
Counterpoint:
The doom loop means “abundance ” is just wishful thinking.
Chicago is “path dependent ” i.e., set on a trajectory that can’t be changed. Economic and social factors – debt, crime, corruption, demographics – are driving the city towards a Detroit-style collapse. And, given its size, when Chicago collapses, it will drag down the rest of Illinois with it.
I think many of those changes can’t effectively occur without addressing the underlying corruption of the system first.
Indeed. I stopped reading here:
This is not an exhaustive account of everything that could be done to unleash growth and make government spending more effective in Chicago. Fiscal reforms like fixing the intergenerational injustice of the city’s pension debt, labor reforms like changing collective bargaining rules that give Illinois government unions more power than voters, lawmakers, and unions in any other state, and basic pro-business legislation like allowing smaller retail footprints are outside the purview of this piece.
Well then naught will get done.