My Blog

Category: Finance

  • Illinois – Worst Financial Shape Ever

    Bloomberg L.P., the big New York financial data firm, is holding its fall municipal-financing conference on Wednesday, and guess what the title is for the special panel on the Land of Lincoln?  Try Land of Entropy.  Yes, sports fans, the panel titled “Illinois Treading Water” is set for 1:45 p.m. and, according to a synopsis,…

  • Jimmy John’s Leaving Illinois, Florida Bound

    Jimmy John Liautaud is moving part of the sandwich chain that bears his name to Florida next year, making good on a threat issued in 2011 after Illinois hiked its corporate tax rate. The founder of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches said during a Sept. 18 panel discussion in Chicago that he will relocate the company’s…

  • U.N. Wants New Global Taxes

    A 1 percent tax on billionaires around the world. A tax on all currency trading in the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound sterling. Another “tiny” tax on all financial transactions, including stock and bond trading, and trading in financial derivatives. New taxes on carbon emissions and on airline tickets.…

  • Quantive Easing Meets Peter Gun

    A light hearted take on a serious subject. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvh60dJ-hTQ?rel=0]

  • CPS Debt Downgraded

    A leading bond-rating agency has downgraded the Chicago Board of Education’s debt in the wake of the settlement of the Chicago Teacher’s Union’s recent strike. Moody’s Investor Service had already downgraded the Chicago Public Schools’ bond rating outlook to “negative” from stable in July, and cited Thursday the rating agency’s “view that the district will…

  • Aldermen Briefed on Pension Time-Bomb

    [Chicago’s] Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott reminded council members that absent significant changes to pension plans, the city will be forced to drastically cut services, raise taxes or do both to close a funding gap that could reach $700 million in just a few years, aldermen said.  … …  Lawmakers are looking to fix the…

  • Federal Reserve Funding the Entire US Deficit

    [Lawrence] Lindsey said that with the Fed purchasing at least $40 billion a month in mortgage debt through QE3, “they are buying the entire deficit.”  … The central bank’s recently announced bid to stimulate the economy has also taken the pressure off politicians to deal with the U.S. fiscal cliff, Lindsay argued, which could result…

  • Anti-Austerity Protests in Spain; U.S. Media Not Reporting

    Police are trying to clear out the massive anti-austerity demonstration that engulfed Spain’s federal district this evening. via Business Insider. Follow the link for photos.  This is us in a few years.  There’s no other way.

  • 50,000 New Jobs!! Seasonal… at Wal-Mart

    Wal-Mart Stores said on Friday that it plans to give current workers the chance to work more hours and will hire more than 50,000 seasonal employees as it gets ready for the winter holiday season, its busiest time of year. via Fox Business. [Insert cheap joke here.]

  • Legislative Change Means $670 million More for Teachers’ Pensions

    The state will have to come up with another $670 million for the teacher pension system in the next budget after a retirement fund panel crunched the numbers and adjusted its assumptions. The Teachers’ Retirement System lowered what it expects from investments from 8.5 percent to 8 percent. The pension fund’s leadership also increased a…