local government

Muni investors are acting as if there is no default risk in the municipal bond market based on yields.  It's a bit like the conditions in the eurozone before the sovereign debt crisis. The Wall Street Journal reports: Investors are…

This week's review post is a bit late since I have been spending all my time watching the World Cup. Like last week, I will put the review in narrative form with links to last week's posts embedded. The numbers were OK but... I think the…

This is a post on demographics inspired by a conversation I had earlier today. Detroit was, in its heyday just after World War II, when the US auto industry was literally firing on all cylinders, the fourth largest in the U.S., Its…

Charlie Gasparino rips Warren Buffett for his stance on the ratings agencies and their role in creating the financial crisis. Here's the money quote: He believes that a sleazy business and it makes a lot of money so he's gonna own…

New York is one of the states at highest risk of default and budget cuts are coming. However, for now, those cuts will be limited to service cuts, dismissals and furloughs. Public sector pensions remain an intractable issue that will move…

Meredith Whitney sounds off in today's Wall Street Journal about small businesses. She is worried about the lack of credit they are getting and its effect on the tenuous economic recovery in keeping the unemployment rate high. She writes:…

You saw my Stat of the Day: California now in top ten for highest government default probabilities in the world. Here's a look at those CDS spreads for California over time - Michigan and Illinois are in the mix here too.

With the liquidity crisis surrounding the rollover of Greek debt subsiding, the probability of default for that country has plummeted from nearly even odds to just over one in three. Last Week's Numbers: 06 May 2010 Meanwhile, other…

Tax revenue at state and local governments has plummeted. With house prices in California down substantially, it is even more dire for municipalities there. The result will be widespread budget cuts and, where possible, income tax hikes.…

Frederick Sheehan is the author of Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession (McGraw-Hill, 2009). Problems of state and municipal finance worsen. Governors announce new…