Podcasts

Maria Doulis of the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission and Howard Cure of Evercore Wealth Management dissect New York City’s $82 billion budget with Bond Buyer Northeast regional editor Paul Burton. They explore efficiencies, debt management, reserves, the economy, the capital budget and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to overhaul Health + Hospitals.

Natalie Cohen, Managing Director at Wells Fargo Securities, talks with The Bond Buyer’s Chip Barnett about the global attractiveness of U.S. municipal bonds in a negative interest rate environment in Europe and Asia. She discusses market volatility after the U.K. Brexit vote, looking at both the market side and the effect on state and local governments and public pensions.

Municipal Market Data’s Senior Market Strategist Daniel Berger and The Bond Buyer’s Federal Reserve reporter Gary Siegel discuss the municipal bond market’s performance in the first half of the year and take a look toward the second half of the year. They also talk about falling muni yields, flat interest rates, and bond issuance which is attracting overseas interest. Siegel talks about the Fed’s motives and actions while Berger looks at bonds from Puerto Rico and Chicago, Illinois and Alaska.

“Hurricane Czar” Alan Rubin, managing director at Tigress Financial Partners, touts the potential of environmental “green” bonds, their roles in critical infrastructure and resilience funding, the roles of bond rating agencies, the lingering Brexit effect and the importance of issuance standards in a chat with Bond Buyer Northeast regional editor Paul Burton.

Carl Weisbrod, Director of the New York City Department of City Planning, joins Bond Buyer Senior Markets Reporter Chip Barnett to talk about the surge in NYC’s population and corresponding employment growth and why economic growth is dependent upon affordable housing for workers. He discusses initiatives such as mandatory inclusionary housing and zoning for quality and affordability. He also looks at the way the city is connecting people to jobs in live-work neighborhoods. And he gives an update on the Vanderbilt Corridor and Greater East Midtown proposals.

Bond Buyer Northeast regional editor Paul Burton, markets reporter Aaron Weitzman and Northeast regional reporter Andrew Coen examine the hot-button problem of public pension liability, including the lingering Illinois shadow, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling, union pushback and Pennsylvania's bill to switch new employees to 401(k)-style plans.

David Brownstein, managing director of the municipal securities division and head of public finance at Citi, sits down with Bond Buyer markets reporter Aaron Weitzman to talk about some of the challenges someone in his position has to deal with, how Citi had made helping distressed credits solve their problems a priority, the current landscape of the municipal market, and bringing -- and retaining -- more young people into the industry.

Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio Mayor and U.S. HUD Secretary and current partner at Siebert Brandford Shank, joins Bond Buyer Senior Markets Reporter Chip Barnett to discuss infrastructure and why he thinks it will be a priority for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump if elected president. He also discusses his public finance background, life in public service and the business world, and the growing importance of the municipal bond market.

Drexel Hamilton's managing director of municipal finance Tom Mead and director of capital markets John Martinko join Bond Buyer markets reporter Aaron Weitzman to discuss the service-disabled veteran owned broker-dealer, the firm's growth, changes in the muni market over the years, and more.

Daniel Berger, Senior Market Strategist at Municipal Market Data, talks about the recent rally in municipal bonds which has brought long-term yields down to record lows. He talks about continuing demand from retail investors in light of the upcoming Summer redemption season and he discusses the allure that the American tax-exempt market has for overseas buyers. He outlines the recent spread compression in quality credits and also looks at some of the market’s outliers -- Puerto Rico and Chicago.