-- 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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The exorbitant cost of housing is a national dilemma for all races and ethnicities. Developer set asides and Section 8 probably raise the cost of housing universally. I don’t have the answers, but making housing an investment asset like stocks probably does not help, nor do high taxes and legacy costs such as local pensions and unpaid debts. Also, as lazy-ass Americans have long demonized working with one’s hands, i.e. “manual labor,” workers are disappearing from the trades. What is dishonorable about working with the hands that god gave us? What is dishonorable about being a highly skilled craftsman? Change… Read more »
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