61–68 of 68 posts
It would be nice to have some DEFINITIVE numbers that says what the class ranges are.
It seems like a moving target, and subject to wide interpretation.
What salary ranges constitute poverty? middle class? upper-middle class? upper class? insane 1%?
Is there even anything definitive to point to for these numbers?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chicago has been overwhelmingly governed by the Democrats, yet they things you've listed are usually pushed by the Republicans. And people leaving are usually going to the majority Republican states and cities. How can you explain this phenomenon?
"Democrat" doesn't necessarily mean liberal. There are plenty of conservative Democrats, and plenty of the "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" types.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chicago's problems are caused by things well beyond chicago. These local issues are driven by national choices. Elect all the best mayors you can, but America's economy is dominated by the national government, and to a lesser extent states. Chicago's problems will be solved when the nation breaks free of the ussual squabbles and opts to resolve social issues rather than scream dogma at each other.
Chicago, and Illinois, has made its own problems far worse than other cities and states by a completely corrupting their defined benefit pension system. Also see NJ/CT/KY. They have hundreds of billions in debt coming due, the figures are staggering. It also doesn’t help that the weather in Chicago is not to most people’s liking, so other than employment or existing family, most people aren’t going to choose to move…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chicago, and Illinois, has made its own problems far worse than other cities and states by a completely corrupting their defined benefit pension system. Also see NJ/CT/KY. They have hundreds of billions in debt coming due, the figures are staggering. It also doesn’t help that the weather in Chicago is not to most people’s liking, so other than employment or existing family, most people aren’t going to choose to move…
I'm not questioning or disbelieving the veracity of your statement, but do you know where Buffett made those comments? I'm not seeing anything in a casual search and that would be interesting to parrot around.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/25/full-transcript-billionaire-...
> if I were relocating into some state that had a huge unfunded pension plan I’m walking into liabilities. ’Cause I mean, who knows whether they’re gonna get it from the corporate income tax or my employees-- you know, with personal income taxes or what. But that-- that liability isn’t gonna-- you can’t ship it offshore or anything like that. And those are big numbers, really big numbers. And they may come--you can delay a long time. I mean, they-- you’re getting pushed maybe somewhat. But the politicians are the ones that really haven’t attacked it in a good many states. And when you see what they would have to do-- I say to myself, “Why do I wanna build a plant there that has to sit there for 30 or 40 years?” ’Cause I’ll be here for the life of the pension-- plan-- and they will come after corporations, they’ll come after individuals. They-- just-- they’re gonna have to raise a lotta money.
We should be careful with maps like this of Chicago, since the time period we're talking about (1970-) coincides with the phasing out of redlining, which kept black families out of white stronghold neighborhoods. It could just be that what you're looking at is the gentrification of the north side and "white flight" into the suburbs. Also, the numbers for this map don't sync up with the "rich blocks, poor blocks" cens…
The linked blog post is better. Reading through the methodology it seems this is just white flight. At least without representing the full regional map that would be the easiest conclusion.
Chicago likely has harsh zoning laws that raise the cost of housing and also imposes steep taxes for not-great public services ( https://www.illinoispolicy.org/study-illinois-home-to-highes... ). Should it be any surprise that the middle class is moving to Phoenix, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, and Florida? Perhaps we ought to lower the cost of living ( https://www.econlib.org/yimby/ ) in Chicago, along with other cities…
I agree that’s likely true for New York and Boston (and San Francisco) but Chicago is actually fairly developer friendly and ok with density. I think Chicago’s taxation is the problem. The taxes are the highest in the nation and have scared off the middle class.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not questioning or disbelieving the veracity of your statement, but do you know where Buffett made those comments? I'm not seeing anything in a casual search and that would be interesting to parrot around.
I think it was in one of his letters from a couple years ago too, but he most recently said it a week or two ago: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/25/full-transcript-billionaire-... > if I were relocating into some state that had a huge unfunded pension plan I’m walking into liabilities. ’Cause I mean, who knows whether they’re gonna get it from the corporate income tax or my employees-- you know, with personal income ta…
Meanwhile people I know who make far less are getting great refunds and my rich friends don't notice anything different personally but their businesses are all saving money.