-- 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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A very simple and equitable policy would be for any given community to insist upon some percentage of non-dilutive carried interest in the startup venture.
Ventures like this and Gotion for another example may strip-mine local resources (water, electrical usage, pollutable land, tax dollars via TIF).
Without any quantifiable upside in a success scenario, why should locals bear all the downside risk?