-- 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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
This is the dumbest program for the reason that only owners already on that block are allowed to participate. Imagine the housing boom the city could kick off by offering parcels for $1 for young people to build a new house on, pay taxes on. But no, they’d rather they become side yard gardens for people already paying little in the way of taxes. They dont want to encourage “gentrification”, that awefull process where neighborhoods stabilize and increased economic activity and tax collection occurs. FUBAR