Much as Brazil is the poster child for the great EM unwind unfolding across emerging economies from LatAm to AsiaPac, Illinois is in many ways the mascot for America’s state and local government fiscal crisis.
Although well documented before, the state’s financial troubles were thrown into sharp relief in May when, on the heels of a state Supreme Court ruling that struck down a pension reform bid, Moody’s downgradedthe city of Chicago to junk.
Since then, there’s been quite a bit written about the state’s pension problem and indeed, Reuters ran aspecial report earlier this month that outlined the labyrinthine, incestuous character of the state’s various state and local governments.
On Friday, in the latest sign that Illinois’ budget crisis has deepened, Governor Bruce Rauner apparently fired “superstar” budget guru and Laffer disciple Donna Arduin who had been making some $30,000 a month as an economic consultant.
And while Illinois apparently found the cash to fork over six figures to Arduin for just four months of “work”, the budget stalemate means hard times for Illinoisans – including, apparently, lottery winners. The Chicago Tribune has more:
After years of struggling financially, Susan Rick thought things were looking up when her boyfriend won $250,000 from the Illinois Lottery last month. She could stop working seven days a week, maybe fix up the house and take a trip to Minnesota to visit her daughter.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on 08/30/2015.
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