Illinois Finally Found Something Profitable To Invest In
Sound money management and Illinois usually go together like fingernails and a chalkboard. However, it looks like a blind squirrel finally found a nut.
Bloomberg - The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority voted Tuesday to sell a painting by Chicago artist Kerry James Marshall, estimated at $8 million to $12 million, at a Sotheby’s auction next month. The MPEA purchased the monumental canvas “Past Times” for $25,000 in 1997, a potential increase of as much as 48,000 percent.
I'm no financial planner but and 480 times return on investment sounds pretty good.
Now, there are a couple of caveats to this good news. The first being that Illinois hasn't had too bad of a time collecting money, it's how they spend it that has had a lot of people scratching their heads (or worse). The second is that the 8-12 million dollar price tag isn't guaranteed yet. The third is the fact that this won't even put a dent in the overall deficit facing the state even though every little bit counts. And finally, I direct you to another tidbit from the article.
It was paid for with public money raised through project-expansion bonds.
Unsurprisingly, the state originally collected the piece with public money. Does this mean the money will go back to expressly benefit the public as well? Probably not.
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