Free Republic

Truth in Accounting .. based on fiscal year 2016 comprehensive annual financial reports .. found that 64 cities do not have enough money to pay all of their bills, and in total, the cities have racked up $335.4 billion in unfunded municipal debt. ... Government reports are lengthy, cumbersome, and sometimes misleading documents ... taxpayers and citizens deserve easy-to-understand, truthful, and transparent financial information from their governments. ... to balance the budget, elected officials have not included the true costs of the government in their budget calculations and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers. ... TIA was unable to rank...

10 Signs That America Is On The Verge Of A Horrible Municipal Debt CrisisMarch 22, 2012 Is America on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. From coast to coast there are an increasing number of cities, towns and counties that are rapidly going broke. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney took a lot of heat when her prediction of a municipal bond crash in 2011 did not happen, but she was not fundamentally wrong in her analysis. A horrifying municipal debt crisis is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes. It just did...

If there is a muni collapse as some people expect, who gets slammed? Probably you. Households, followed by mutual funds, are the biggest holders of muni debt. Insurers are a distant third, which suggests that even if the wheels come off, the institutional fallout won't be dramatic.

Describing events in the bond market in 2008—and their future implications—is a bit like describing the construction of a house of cards. It helps to understand the structural differences between trading stocks and trading bonds. Stocks trade on electronic or bricks-and-mortar exchanges where buyers and sellers converge in a central meeting place and transact with anonymity. Bonds trade on an over-the-counter market using an intermediary, such as a bank or broker with full knowledge of the trade counterparty. It’s similar to trading in your car with a car dealer, which then looks for a buyer. The dealer is taking a...