-- 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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I am skeptical. How much can a casino in Chicago – and it must be located in a high traffic tourist area near downtown to be viable – obtain in terms of tax revenue each year? $50M? That doesn’t seem to scratch the surface in terms of closing the deficit. And casinos create all sorts of negative externalities, which of course are rarely discussed but yet which impose costs on us all. Relying on a casino to close a huge budget gap seems both to be a talking point and a huge fool’s errand. Property tax increases seem the most… Read more »