Chicago Fed Reserve's Bill Testa on The Economist's Survey of Chicago

Testa only has two comments to his review of The Economist's survey of Chicago. I could add a picture of JBT with accordian at a Gay Pride parade and get 50 or 60 I bet. A few telling me to get a life. I have a feeling it's as good as it's gonna get in Chicago (and Illinois) unless we crack the leadership failures.

Tell Testa what you think.

At the end, Johnny Grimond notes a few possibilities for further success, namely further development of its professional services sectors and better commercialization of its educational and technological assets. However, Grimond is somewhat pessimistic in observing that the Daley era may be coming to an end, with nastier politics ahead and no evident leadership handoff in sight. And like its counterparts, Chicago has not cracked the puzzle of easing inner-city poverty and upward mobility. And so, he concludes that “Chicago’s current success may be about as good as it gets.… Chicago, like almost all America’s older cities, still faces the prospect of decline, or at best stasis, unless it can find the elixir of urban life—how to grow richer without growing bigger.”