-- 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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Laws and the legal system are essentially powerless to address (let alone solve) this economic problem. There is enough flex in the legal system (together with enough ambiguity in the constitution) that an elected court can say what it wants. Government entities are unable to comply with court orders either because they have no money or because no public official is accountable to anybody other than voters (under an electoral system of questionable integrity). Irresponsible officials have insufficient personal assets to pay for the dollar damage caused by their flagrant violation of laws. Lots of lawyers are “out there” to… Read more »