Illinois Among Five 'Sinkhole States' In Post Great Recession America
From Reboot Illinois
When cruising around downtown Chicago, nothing is worse for your tire than driving over a pothole. The streets of Chicago are full of potholes caused by the winter weather. Every day, road construction clogs up the traffic in the streets and yet still there are potholes.
It seems to be an unending situation — much like the state of Illinois’ accumulation of debt.
While financial conditions in many states have shown improvement in the years after the recession that began in 2008, the economies of Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey continue to deteriorate.
These five states are being called “sinkholes” by Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit think tank in Chicago that analyzes state data, because they have the highest debt per taxpayer after available assets are tapped.
Here is a chart from TIA’s sister website, State Data Lab, comparing the increase in debt from the recession until recently, for the five sinkhole states. Click here to view an interactive version of the chart.
Illinois’ state economy ranks 49th out of 50 states.
Although it does not rank beneath Connecticut, (Connecticut ranks 50th) if you examine the increase in debt from 2009 to 2013, the percentage of debt had increased significantly more for the state of Illinois, when compared to the increase of debt that Connecticut saw. In Connecticut, taxpayer burden went from $41,200 to $48,200, a 17 percent increase. In Illinois, taxpayer burden surged from $29,100 to $43,400 in 2013, a whopping 49 percent increase from 2009!
Read more in our daily News Update...
From Reboot Illinois
When cruising around downtown Chicago, nothing is worse for your tire than driving over a pothole. The streets of Chicago are full of potholes caused by the winter weather. Every day, road construction clogs up the traffic in the streets and yet still there are potholes.
It seems to be an unending situation — much like the state of Illinois’ accumulation of debt.
While financial conditions in many states have shown improvement in the years after the recession that began in 2008, the economies of Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey continue to deteriorate.
These five states are being called “sinkholes” by Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit think tank in Chicago that analyzes state data, because they have the highest debt per taxpayer after available assets are tapped.
Here is a chart from TIA’s sister website, State Data Lab, comparing the increase in debt from the recession until recently, for the five sinkhole states. Click here to view an interactive version of the chart.
Illinois’ state economy ranks 49th out of 50 states.
Although it does not rank beneath Connecticut, (Connecticut ranks 50th) if you examine the increase in debt from 2009 to 2013, the percentage of debt had increased significantly more for the state of Illinois, when compared to the increase of debt that Connecticut saw. In Connecticut, taxpayer burden went from $41,200 to $48,200, a 17 percent increase. In Illinois, taxpayer burden surged from $29,100 to $43,400 in 2013, a whopping 49 percent increase from 2009!
Read more in our daily News Update...