-- 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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It’s ok. Housing is actually going to get real affordable in Illinois in the coming years.
Yeah, your property taxes will be suffocating, but you’ll be able to pick up that condo or small house for a dime.
I’ll never understand why progressives seek to emulate the disastrous housing regulations of San Francisco and New York, but regardless their onerous requirements will just make it so landlords have to raise their rents and security deposits to cover the cost of business. Then as affordable housing becomes even less available, they’ll push harder for rent control, which if successful will lead people converting their apartments into condos or larger homes. If Chicago really wants to increase affordable housing, it should look at what it needs to do to get people to build again on all its empty lots.