The counties with the highest rates of poverty tend to be the ones where Pat Quinn lost—and where Bruce Rauner will need to tread carefully while cutting government spending. Read more
Two-year schools played a foundational role in Silicon Valley's rise. Today, students with associate's degrees, in some states, come out of school making more than the average university grad. Read more
Private employers have shifted quickly from opt-in to opt-out retirement programs, but Illinois is the first state to set up such a system for residents. Read more
In a less enlightened time, Chicago–based Sears offered molten lead, exotic "oriental" fashions, and metal-tipped junior archery toys for Middle America. Read more
Well-educated Americans are generally about as capable as their developed-country peers. But the gap between the most- and least-skilled Americans is one of the highest in the first world. Read more
In 1970, the majority of people in Chicago and its suburbs lived in pretty average places, by income at least. Now rich and poor dominate, especially in the city itself. Read more
The northsiders grabbed the biggest name on the managerial market. By the numbers, he's very good. But what do the numbers say about his worth? Read more
In the 1970s, an experiment with a negative income tax in the Indiana city led to positive outcomes. It's a policy that's seen renewed interest during the Great Recession. Read more
As the nation's job market places an increasingly high value on skills and a increasingly high price on failure, helicopter parenting is an economic adaptation. Read more
