-- 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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What a mess, and an example of city, McPiet agency and state leader incompetence. All they are doing here is making the bond holders wealthy, and soaking us taxpayers by never paying down the principal of the loan. Most don’t understand that “capitalizing” the interest means not paying the interest payment, and adding it to the principal. Plus everyone outside the city should be pleased that the state (that means people in the suburbs and downstate) guarantee these garbage bonds, and will likely have to step and make $300m to $450m in payments each year as Chicago implodes. Yeah Chicago,… Read more »