Illinois’ Economic Decline

• Illinois is one of the fifty Laboratories of Democracy that make up the Republic of the United States of America, like fifty teams that compete by trying novel social and economic experiments.

• How is Team Illinois doing? See US Department of Commerce zero-sum graph below. Relative to the other forty-nine teams, the once great Illinois has been losing ground for a long time. Northern Illinoisans seem to have a high tolerance for losing, be it professional sports teams, or the Democratic players in Springfield.

Clearly, relative to other states Illinois is on a long term steady economic decline.  This is probably the simplest and easiest explanation why people are leaving.  Earning power, relative to other states, is steadily declining in Illinois.

Impact on graph. Numerator	On the income side. Loss of income producing jobs.
	Sep. 15, 2024. Morton Salt will stop operations in October at its warehousing and packaging facility on Elston Avenue in Chicago. Sep. 4, 2024. Another One Bites the Dust: Morton Salt Joins Exodus from Illinois, Relocates Headquarters to Kansas, Citing State’s Hostile Business Climate Aug. 15, 2024. Morton Salt is relocating its headquarters to Overland Park, Kansas, adding to the growing list of companies leaving Illinois, a state known for its hostile business climate. Jul. 14, 2024. Rail car company TTX is heading for North Carolina, adding to the list of corporations formerly headquartered in Chicago. Companies such as McDonald’s and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange could be next. Apr. 20, 2024. The Economist, Emptying and fuming, pg. 15-17. Article about Illinois economy.      “Shrinking is bad for many reasons. As people leave a place, once beloved businesses become less viable and close. Schools without enough pupils struggle to maintain sports teams, or bands, or to a wide curriculum, even if their funding per pupil remains generous.       But the biggest problem is that, once a place starts shrinking, it can set in motion reinforcing cycles that accelerate the decline.” Apr. 3, 2024. Danville Quaker plant to close; 510 employees losing jobs Jun. 23, 2022. Hedge-fund firm Citadel is moving its headquarters to Miami. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said many employees have asked to move out of Illinois.
Impact on graph. Denominator	On the population side. Migrant influx. Unskilled population increase (not income producers—government services consumers).
	Jun. 6, 2024. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sees unlimited migration as a solution to population loss. What he should be doing is recognizing crime and a lack of quality school choice is driving out families. Mar. 18, 2024. Chicago is approaching $300 million spent on the migrant crisis since the first bus arrived in 2022. Nearly two years later, more than 11,200 migrants are in the city shelters. Oct. 23, 2023. Residents file suit to keep city from housing migrants in public buildings. Footnote: During the COVID pandemic crisis Illinois forced hotels to house people. So, during a migrant crisis shouldn’t Illinois use the hotels again, specifically utilize the governor's influence with Hyatt Hotels, instead of taking public schools for migrants. Alternatively, migrants could be helpful on the governor’s farms in Illinois. Or maybe some of the family owned property outside of Illinois.  An observation and opinion.

Illinois' Population Decline

• Another zero-sum measure of Team Illinois performance is Illinois Representatives to Congress.  Illinois used to have 41% more Representatives in Congress than today.  In terms of appropriations and other federal government goodies, now Illinois is getting a smaller piece of the Federal pie, thus motivation for getting migrants at any cost.  Migrants may not have a right to vote, but under the United States Constitution they have a right to be represented, i.e., counted in the census.  But let it be known, being counted in the census is not related to voting (although the Democrats wish it was).

• A manifestation of Illinois' population decline.

    Sep. 10, 2024.   Illinois’ rich, young residents join the exodus to other states

    Aug. 9, 2024.    Chicago population hits lowest point since 1920.