-- 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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Why isn’t Wirepoints on the list? The truth hurts to these people, but the fact of the matter is everything that is said about the pension shortfalls is backed up with data. And it’s from the publicly available data. To borrow a quote from The Big Short (don’t have book so this is approximate) “Your numbers are wrong, all wrong” “They’re YOUR f*****g numbers!” The data does not come from someone with an agenda, like Madigan, Rauner, NCPERS, or Heartland Institute. They come from financial reports.
Bob, that’s flattering in more ways than one. That’s exactly what we try to do on this site — objective facts and numbers. And Mark Baum from the Big Short is one of my heroes. He should be everybody’s. That reminds me that I need to do a piece titled “It’s Happening.” Unlike the quick crash you could see on screens in 2007, however, this mess unfolds slowly. Watch: https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0603de39-86d5-4bea-a32e-4fcd5ee5ac04