Column: Demographics key to state’s financial, educational future – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: "Plenty of downsides threaten its opportunities, including the state’s heavy long-term debt, tough competition for its manufacturers, and population issues that pose problems for the future of higher education. Those are some of the conclusions in a State of Illinois Forecast Report done by Moody’s Analytics and recently released by the Illinois Commission on Economic Forecasting & Accountability. ... 'Weak demographic trends and deep-rooted fiscal problems, such as mounting pension obligations and a shrinking tax base, represent the biggest hurdles to the longer-term outlook,' the report states."