A group of conservative grass roots organizations sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act online sales tax bill in order to "close a tax loopholes that punishes small businesses."
The fiscal condition of Chicago, Cook County, and five other local government pension systems deteriorated in 2011 by $4.6 billion, bringing their collective unfunded obligations to $32 billion.
As housing finance agencies have found the traditional way to finance affordable mortgage loans increasingly difficult, they have embraced a new pass-through structure to issue bonds.
Photos from The Bond Buyer's 2nd Annual Symposium on Distressed Municipalities, held March 18-19 at the Omni Providence Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island.
A networking group for government officials, municipal bond professionals & decision-makers, driven by The Bond Buyer, which dominates municipal bond market coverage with daily breaking news through the printed daily paper, bonus distributions, live events and online at TheBondBuyer.com.
Before the financial crisis of 2008-09, it would have been significant news if yields on municipal bonds had exceeded those on Treasury securities at any maturity, and that occurrence likely would have attracted a variety of investors seeking to take advantage of the relative-value opportunity.