Illinois is the state where I have spent more of my adult life than any other. I went to grad school there. We’re still connected to there through my wife’s employment. My children’s first memories of “home” are there. We’re bound to return there someday.
And it’s a complete mess.
From the Wall Street Journal:
$14.6 billion. Sounds like a lot, right?
But Illinois has a huge Gross Domestic Product. It’s $791 billion. That’s the fifth largest in the U.S. That’s larger than 182 other COUNTRIES.
$14.6 billion is just 1.8% of the state’s GDP. That’s less than 2 cents for every dollar of income.
To pay back years of unpaid bills and to get the state back on track.
(At least in the short-term. Underfunded pensions are a way bigger problem.)
And yet the political leadership in Illinois can’t figure out how to get it done.
What a mess.
Bill Poorman 