{"id":53225,"date":"2019-02-09T02:15:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-09T10:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=53225"},"modified":"2019-02-12T06:06:18","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T14:06:18","slug":"black-coffee-9-feb-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id53225-black-coffee-9-feb-2019.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Tea Leaves, Chicken Bones and Animal Entrails"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"black<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it this week …<\/p>\n

In my intercourse with mankind, I have always found those who would thrust theory into practical matters to be, at bottom, men of no judgement and pure quacks.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— John Smeaton<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last duty of a central banker is to tell the public the truth.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Alan Blinder, former Vice Chairman of the Fed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Illinois’ pension problems<\/a> continue to compound, as Moody’s says new revenue likely will be required to keep their funds from imploding. But here’s the rub: Moody’s warns that out-migration is now a major credit concern. Unfortunately, the proposed tax hikes<\/a> to rescue those pension funds are so big that they’re sure to accelerate Illinois’ out-migration trend, further eroding its tax base. Uh oh.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Needless to say, there is no realistic way to save government pensions in the Land of Lincoln because the state’s tax base has already eroded beyond the point of no return. Sadly, without a massive cutback in promised benefits, here’s what is eventually going to happen to those woefully-underfunded Illinois’ government pension funds:<\/p>\n