-- 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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Wow! It is almost like the people who might be interested in purchasing Illinois debt, just don’t trust the politicians! Now why would that be?
143 basis points over triple A credit is frankly not, in a rational sense, enough to cover the risk premium of lending to Illinois. Once the federal assistance disappears, Illinois is in real trouble. And the near term political and economic landscape does not bode well for a bailout. But investors are at some level confident that Illinois politicians can continue to shake down taxpayers. Maybe they are “right”. The multitude of regressive tax increases passed since the failure of the progressive tax amendment is evidence of this notion. How ironic. Progressives claim there is no relationship between bond yields… Read more »