-- 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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More debt. I wouldn’t trust Fitch’s rating for these, as the rating doesn’t take into account the problems coming to a head due to the near-criminal mismanagement of state finances by JB the Hutt and his political animal henchmen.
Actually, the IL Finance Authority is quite separate from the state. These bonds would be backed by mortgages on the facilities they fund, so it’s not a State of IL credit issue.