The New Wall Street Racket Looting Your City, One Block at a Time

New schemes hold the public hostage to private finance.

By Matt Reichel

May 7, 2012  |  When Mayor Rahm Emanuel  a “new and innovative” financing tool last month to help Chicago renovate failing infrastructure without precipitating another budget crisis, many in the city were understandably critical.

 

Chicagoans have already endured the notorious 75-year lease of their parking meters to a consortium headed by Morgan Stanley. That sale promulgated a system wherein the public is held hostage by private finance, due largely to the inclusion of arcane legal stipulations like “non-compete clauses” and “compensation events” in the language of the contract.