Muni Think

The "Golden Age of Public Finance," as it was called by industry pundits, is likely to face significant changes under the Trump administration.

In the coming year, we'll find out if public pension disclosure and transparency have improved enough to protect municipal bond investors.

Just as the economy could become topsy turvy, so could the municipal market.

It is sadly not possible to prevent 100% fraud scenarios from occurring; however, reassessing your firm's processes for identifying red flags may be a good place to start.  

If the MSRB pursues a pre-trade transparency initiative—though its necessity is debatable given the private sector has already addressed this need—it should leverage existing tools and services used by market participants.

The U.S. Congress is considering eliminating the federal tax exemption for municipal bonds, the single most important financing tool for cities and towns across America. If they do, the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure — roads, bridges, schools, water systems, and even broadband networks — will skyrocket.

Future generations will benefit if we don't give up on breakthroughs in medicine or energy. That's why research Trump is cutting should be funded with bonds.

The Federal government's long-term budget challenges could mean dramatic changes for hospitals and health systems nationwide, derailing the post-COVID credit recovery that helped turn the healthcare sector into the fastest-growing segment of the municipal market in 2024.

As state and local governments are charged with funding 3/4ths of the country's infrastructure, the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles highlight even more the municipal bond market's vital role in keeping the U.S. competitive globally and maintaining the heart of fiscal federalism at home.