For many, the word austerity is inextricably linked to the international development community: IMF and World Bank policies that required austerity policies – often draconian in their social impacts – in exchange for development financing and other aid. The IMF is now grappling with a different part of the globe: the withering crises of the…
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Sprawl and fiscal crisis
The recent bankruptcies of Stockton and San Bernardino have again highlighted the fragility of many California cities’ finances. In each case, the burden of public pensions has been blamed for the financial problems. However true that may be in the short run, the pension blame game masks another, deeper problem for the state’s taxpayers: the…
The euro zone crisis: The tightest purses | The Economist
Not urban, but a look at national degrees of “austerity” by the numbers. The Economist looks All the numbers are as a per cent of GDP and all represent tighter policy. 2012 2013 France 1.1 2.1 Germany…
Nuances of crime in a time of austerity and fear
First Recession, Then Crime and Fear – NYTimes.com.
Fitch weighs in on Michigan’s Emergency Manager law
Fitch Ratings issued a press release on the situation with Michigan’s Emergency Manager law (right now the court is weighing whether to put on the fall ballot a measure to repeal the current version of the emergency manager law, under which Detroit’s consent agreement with the state). Ratings agencies have been vocal about Detroit’s troubles,…