We will collect audited financial and socioeconomic data for a large sample of local governments between 2008 and 2016 to create a fiscal scoring system for cities and counties based on our previous work, work done by Pew and the leading academics. City and county scores will be reported on a...

The Great Recession produced a wave of fiscal crises in American cities and counties. In addition to the high profile bankruptcies in Vallejo, Stockton, San Bernardino, many local governments were compelled to declare fiscal emergencies, raise tax rates, lay off or furlough workers, and...

Credit rating agencies implemented a "dual ratings system" under which US municipal bond issuers are assessed more harshly that other types of issuers. This system created an artificial demand for bond insurance because the so-called monoline bond insurers were rated more leniently than the...

I estimate that the contemporary system of municipal bond ratings costs issuers over $2 billion annually. Fees paid to rating agencies directly account for about $500 million of this total. The greater burden on issuers arises from the relatively harsh ratings that agencies assign municipal...

After achieving peak revenue of $1.5 billion in 2007, the municipal bond insurance business collapsed in the wake of the financial crisis. More recently, the industry has started to recover, with three market participants seeking to write new policies. Our study asks whether municipal bond...

Puerto Rico s heavy public-sector debt burden is the unintended consequence of a series of policy decisions extending back to the US takeover of the island in 1898. Rather than placing Puerto Rico on a path to statehood, Congress imposed a series of unique governing structures on the island....

La deuda excesiva que enfrenta el sector público de Puerto Rico es el resultado involuntario de una serie de decisiones de política pública hechas a partir del 1898 cuando los Estados Unidos tomó posesión de la isla. En lugar de encaminar a Puerto Rico hacia la estadidad, el Congreso de los...