-- 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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This shouldn’t be “painful to watch.” Each college should be treated like a separate business, in that each college should make itself attractive enough to keep enrollment high by offering a quality, marketable education at a reasonable cost. If it can’t do that, then it should close.
The student demographic bust is looming on the horizon. The WSJ had a fluff article about it a few days ago, but it is most assuredly coming. Many smaller private colleges will be closing, and maybe even a few public colleges too. Illinois is going to feel it more acutely than most states.