The People's Money: Pensions, Debt, and Government Services

Abstract

Although not a history of public policy nor budgetary priorities, this volume of collected analyses of governmental services and expenditures deserves scholarly attention for several reasons. First, voters and taxpayers expect accountability of state institutions, and the ability of our principal higher education institutions to interpret and report on governmental functionality is necessary. Second, those same consumers of public information deserve to know the ability of public colleges and universities to transcend seemingly esoteric discourse to engage in debates over public policy. Third, while historians seek to interpret contemporary historical trends, the analyses of social scientists and business professionals offer fertile data. Finally, in Illinois, as political and budgetary mismanagement continues to imperil public sector pensions, interested parties deserve some sense of history.The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) focuses on urban studies, policy, and advocacy, which is reflected in this collection of essays analyzing public policy and budgetary priorities in the contemporary era. Editor Michael A. Pagano, dean of the college, has organized a volume including contributions by not only UIC scholars but leading academics at the University of Texas, Michigan State University, and various policy think tanks. The collected essays focused on the “paradox of fiscal challenges for cities and other local governments in a time of improving economic conditions,” which was the subject of a UIC Urban Forum in the late 2010s, which, considering the parlous financial conditions of the ensuing pandemic period may have become even more dire (p. vii). The state of Illinois, which is featured prominently in the comparative studies of this work, is particularly of interest to not only scholars of state public policy and financial planning but also academics and state employees, including library, museum, and archival workers, whose future retirement plans are affected by contemporary and future political realities.While the discerning reader may be discouraged by a disorganized introduction written by a UIC graduate student, a survey of “white papers” presented at the urban affairs conference offers a view of diverse analyses of the policy issues at hand. The conceptual devise of “people's money,” of course, provides a pejorative view of public sector employment, which suggests that alternative labor schemes might best benefit taxpayers. While reviewing the politics and policies behind the creation of public pensions and their impact on municipal and state budgets, the various authors provide historic, comparative, and reformative ideas. The various essays examine government long-term liabilities, comparative municipal fiscal challenges, benefit-based financing, self-organized collaborative networks, and public pension reforms.While The People's Money is not strictly a historical study and might be considered one of those works published to pad professors’ vitae, it is nevertheless worth more than a casual glance. In the twenty-first century, the question of tax dollars to support public sector employees is a legitimate area of debate. Particularly, in the politicized environment of the present pandemic, American citizens question the role of public health officials, scientists, educators, intellectuals, local officials, and other authority figures. This work, which reflects merely a portion of these urban and public policy scholars and their peers, suggests to a learned audience the complexities of contemporary American life that all of us must contemplate whenever casting our votes.