A statewide concern: Illinois’ population decline outpaces neighboring states – Wirepoints on ABC20 Champaign
“We are not in good shape” Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski told ABC 20 Champaign during a segment on Illinois’ latest population losses. Illinois was one of just three states to shrink in the 2010-2020 period and has lost another 300,000 people since then. Ted says things need to change. “It’s too expensive to live here, there aren’t enough good jobs and nobody trusts the government anymore. There’s just other places to go where you can be more satisfied.”
The article basically says that Rahm hasn’t adequately screwed over the taxpayers enough in his plan. Municipal bonds are rated based on how thoroughly they screw over taxpayers, nothing else. Good ratings come from solid collateral (aka the taxpayer). If that collateral is delivered to the market, even immorally, it results in good ratings. The article names over and over “structural” changes are not enough, meaning essentially, that they want the people screwed over more.
Exactly right. Always read The Bond Buyer knowing that it reports through that lens. That reporter, Yvette Shields, is the best in terms of accuracy, and I don’t fault her for reporting things through the lens of bond buyers. But bondholders care only about repayment, so they love taxes and long term consequences mean little.