Special Briefing

Global cities face mounting infrastructure demands at a time when fiscal pressures, climate risks, and constrained public resources are challenging traditional financing models. Against this backdrop, the $4 trillion U.S. municipal bond market has drawn increasing international attention as a model for financing long-term public investment. For a discussion of how municipal bond markets, fiscal de...

Economic uncertainty driven by geopolitical conflict and inflationary pressures has reshaped expectations for growth, public finance, and investment across the United States. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR, join our Special Briefing expert panel as we discuss how the war in Iran, elevated energy...

From handing environmental reviews to states and reshuffling federal funding to navigating a looming congressional reauthorization deadline, America's transportation network stands at a critical crossroads. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Leslie Richards, Founder and Director of the Transportation Initiative at Penn (TRIP) and Weitzma...

From repurposing underused office buildings and shopping centers to making sweeping changes in zoning, cities from coast to coast are taking concrete steps to increase housing construction. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of the Penn IUR and Wharton Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance, join our...

Eighty percent of Americans live in urban areas, and for them, 2026 is likely to be a year of immense change as the federal government quickens the pace of trillions of dollars in funding cuts to cities, counties, and states expected over the next decade. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of the Penn Institute...

As a year marked by fiscal uncertainty and shifting federal priorities comes to a close, state and local governments are grappling with structural changes. For a discussion of how federal retrenchment, artificial intelligence(AI)-driven growth, and sharply rising municipal market borrowing market will shape state and local finances in the year ahead, Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance convened a pa...

The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 sparked an “AI arms race” with trillions of dollars in investment and profound implications for productivity and employment. For a discussion of how generative AI and related technologies are reshaping public sector operations, workforce needs, and infrastructure planning, Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance convened a panel of government, academic, and industry experts...

From the deteriorating Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn, New York, to the aging dams that supply about 70 percent of California’s water, America’s public infrastructure is badly in need of fixing. The nation is estimated to have accumulated about $1 trillion in deferred infrastructure maintenance, and even more will be needed to rebuild or retrofit roads, water plants, schools, and electrical grids...

William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel address the record-shattering boom in state and local borrowing even in the face of federal spending cuts and pressure on budgets. How long the boom will continue in the face of conflicting federal, state, and local priorities will be the...

Join William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Advisor, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor and our expert panel as we address the rapidly darkening outlook for state and local budgets and what this means for policymakers, taxpayers, and investors. Panelists include Jonathan Womer, Director, Rhode Island Department of Administration; Emily B...

Cities around the world are facing a host of challenges. As the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development observed recently, "places are rethinking how to stay competitive on the global stage. Technological change, the green transition and shifting global value chains are reshaping local economies." Join Eugenie Birch, Co-Director of Penn IUR, and William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and...

This Special Briefing is focused on the future of mass transportation under the new Administration and Congress. Our expert panel discusses the upsurge in construction funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as solutions to hundreds of billions of dollars in budgetary shortfalls facing transit networks from coast to coast. Speakers include Leslie Richards, Professor of Practice at the...

The first Special Briefing of 2025 offers a deep dive into the new President’s first month and the implications of new policies. Featured speakers include former US Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA); Jeffrey Holland, Vice President, Research, Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Eric Kim, Senior Director, U.S. Public Finance at Fitch Ratings; Vikram Rai, Fixed Income Strategist, Head of Municipal M...

Major policy shifts in immigration, taxes, trade, energy, health care, and pandemic-era programs passed under the Biden Administration look increasingly likely with Donald Trump capturing the White House and his fellow Republicans taking control of both houses of Congress for the first time in two years. Our panel of experts share their views on what this sea change may mean for the economy and Fe...

The US economy’s extraordinary recovery since the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic has continued into the fall of 2025, with inflation retreating and the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates to keep jobs and investment humming along. Our expert panel discusses where the economy is growing fastest—and less fast—and what this means for state and local budgets and finances. Our panel of expert...

Listen in to this episode of Special Briefing as Bill Glasgall of the Volcker Alliance, Susan Wachter of the Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR), and our panel of experts discuss the year ahead for America’s states and municipalities. Fiscal 2025 will be an especially consequential one, with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates for the first time in almost five years as infl...

On this episode of Special Briefing, experts discuss the latest Volcker Alliance issue paper, Benefit or Burden: Evaluating $1 Trillion in State Tax Expenditures. The issue paper addresses how US states hand out massive tax breaks every year to advance policy goals, such as aiding low-income families, spurring business investment and job creation, or mirroring the federal tax code. Known broadly a...

Ever since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US in 2020 led to a surge in people working from home, New York and other big cities have been forced to reckon with the possibility of a Doom Loop scenario of vacant offices and flagging economies. But given the right set of policies, cities can reverse their fortunes and embark upon a path to a Boom Loop of greater productivity and economic...

While the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $50 billion to upgrade America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems, much more will be needed to address the nation’s water infrastructure needs amid a changing climate and shifts in population. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the US will need almost $900 billion in water investment over the next twenty years, plus...

Western and southern states including Idaho and Florida were among those growing the fastest from the eve of the pandemic in 2019 through 2022. But there were some surprises as well, with Delaware, Maine, and New Jersey also joining the Census Bureau’s hot growth list. While the ability of many Americans to move to low-tax states and work from home played a large role in the population shift, othe...

With their revenues and cash reserves at record highs after unprecedented federal aid to offset the impact of COVID-19, dozens of states embarked on the biggest wave of tax cuts in decades, slashing levies by at least $124 billion on everything from personal income to groceries and gasoline. Tune into this Special Briefing as the authors of the forthcoming Volcker Alliance issue paper, State Tax C...

For America’s states and municipalities, 2024 is likely to bring long-awaited relief from inflation and higher interest rates while presenting challenges—and not just because it’s a presidential election year. States, cities, and counties will have to contend with the imminent end of $350 billion in federal pandemic budget aid even as the revenue boom of recent years cools and the need for increas...

Many states, counties, and cities emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession with record cash reserves following the US government’s injection of $5 trillion to revive the economy and prop up local government budgets. But even after the unprecedented federal support, states and municipalities have been left with more than $1.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities for public employee pe...

The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research invite you to join an online Special Briefing on how the rollout of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is proceeding. A critical part of legislation passed by Congress to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance the durability and sustainability of the nation’s infrastructure, the biparti...

The Volcker Alliance and Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) invite you to join an online Special Briefing focusing on whether Federal Reserve moves to slow inflation may result in a recession or soft landing in coming months and how states and localities may be impacted. Our panel of experts includes Zac Jackson, Indiana budget director; Eric Kim, senior director, Fitch Ratings; Torsten...