by Arnaldo Cruz | Nov 17, 2016 | Blog
Toa Baja, a mid-sized city in Puerto Rico, shut down last Monday after failing to pay municipal employees for several weeks. All public services have been suspended indefinitely. Could this be the future for other cities across Puerto Rico and on the US mainland? Toa...
by Marc Joffe | Oct 2, 2016 | Blog
(DeKalb, Illinois, September 27, 2016) Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) and Department of Accountancy announced the availability of a new draft taxonomy that will enable analysts to compare financial information over time and...
by Marc Joffe | Mar 10, 2016 | Blog
Prior to the Great Recession, interest rates on municipal bonds were generally lower than Treasury rates. This relationship has reversed since 2008, imposing substantial extra costs on state and local government borrowers. Further, the municipal bond market witnessed...
by Marc Joffe | Mar 10, 2016 | Blog
On November 17, State Treasurer John Chiang launched a new web site that provides information on bonds issued by California state and local governments. The site, athttp://debtwatch.treasurer.ca.gov, has detailed data on over 50,000 bonds sold to investors over the...
by Marc Joffe | Mar 10, 2016 | Blog
This is the second of an occasional series of posts on municipal bond issuance costs. You can see the first one, focusing on Fullerton, here. In a recent study of 800 municipal bond issues for UC Berkeley, I found that issuance costs varied widely – from less than...
by Marc Joffe | Mar 10, 2016 | Blog
In a recent study of 800 municipal bond issues for UC Berkeley, I found that issuance costs varied widely – from less than 0.2% of face value to over 10%. Issuance costs are to local governments like points are to a consumer taking out a home mortgage. In both cases,...
Recent Comments