-- 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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But retirees earned the COLA increases!
Has anyone ever calculated the impact of the guaranteed 3% cola versus rate of inflation increases to state pensions since Thompson enacted this misguided legislation?
Some previous work indicated that the COLA alone accounts for close to 40% of the unfunded liability. Stay tuned! We will have more out on that question soon.