-- 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
The whole thing sounds like something to avoid, like timeshares.
Surfside condo building collapse should be a HUGE wake-up call even to complacent Chicago condo unit owners unwilling, unable to stomach the often extreme petty politics of condo governance by rank amateurs, and/or otherwise just disinterested in participating in condo governance.
Practically-speaking, a bulk sale of condo units to a deconversion developer, or for wholesale building demolition and redevelopment of entire site, may become only solution for a deteriorating condo building facing continually declining unit-values, large monthly assessment charges and even larger special assessments, and major building-system reconstruction projects.