-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
In the second quarter of 2018, 18 percent of Illinois’ homes were considered seriously underwater, or mortgaged for more than 25 percent of the potential sale price of the house. That’s according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ report released Thursday. That’s higher than it has been since 2016. In some of Chicago's western suburbs, more than 70 percent of homeowners owe 25 percent more than the price their home would sell for.
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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