Podcasts

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.

Chris Hamel, managing director and head of municipal finance at RBC Capital Markets, discusses why the infrastructure problem in the U.S. is not one of capital but of funding, why P3 has not yet taken off in this country and how it could, how design-build could work well within the muni framework, and issues a call-to-action to the muni industry to come together to advance an infrastructure agenda in a spirited Infrastructure Week discussion with Bond Buyer Northeast regional editor Paul Burton.

Detroit’s “Grand Bargain” strategy leveraging civic foundation support during its 2013 bankruptcy and how this unique approach could be a model for other distressed cities facing major pension burdens is discussed by Howard Husock, vice president for policy research at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Husock speaks with reporter Andrew Coen about his new report “The Pension Grand Bargain: A Reform Model for Cities” and how Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, St. Louis and Buffalo can benefit from Detroit’s plan (1:43). Husock also touches on if galvanizing charities to address pension liabilities can also be achieved at the state level (7:45) and what changes he has noticed in his more than two decades of public policy research (11:48).

Bond Buyer Northeast regional editor Paul Burton, senior markets reporter Chip Barnett and Northeast regional reporter Andrew Coen let loose on the ills of the municipal finance world, including infrastructure underfunding, pension debt, state budget strife and distressed cities.

Brian Fraser, co-chair of the litigation department at Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, examines the challenges of distinguishing a loan from a bond and a loan from a security, in a chat with Bond Buyer northeast regional editor Paul Burton.