-- 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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If I were a chicagoan, which I am not, would my three person family debt of 129,300 be cancelled if I left chicago and moved to Dupage County? Would our lives be less restricted? Would we be safer from carjackings and gang murders? Would we be happier?
Chicago enough said- Get out while you can
Again, the group of people who can service this kind of debt is small. The top 15 percent of income earners? Just a guess. Most people are struggling just to survive and can’t reasonably contribute to a $43,000 dollar debt per capita debt. So the per capita debt when configured to the group that can actually service the debt is – a guess again – somewhere north of $300,000 or more. Good luck collecting that kind of income and having those people stay in the city. Some have suggested (including the Chicago Fed) an increase on property taxes to pay… Read more »
Debts that cannot be paid will not be paid. It’s math. Trying to predict will the payments will stop is the difficult part to predict. The 90’s to 20’s urban renaissance driven primarily by high earning young people working in finance and professional jobs only extended into the future the ultimate date of collapse. But like you said, only the top earners in the city can afford to service this kind of debt. When those high earners decide that Lincolnshire is more appealing that Lincoln Park, the jig is up and it’s only a matter of time. Lincoln Park was… Read more »
Can I pay that in change?
I believe President Obama promised ‘change.’ Let’s pay it off in that.