Friday, September 17, 2010

The next phase of the crisis is munipal debt

"To disrupt our services because we can't make a bond payment would just be unconscionable. And as a leader I couldn't do it." So explained Linda Thompson, the mayor of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She was explaining the city's refusal to repay part ($3.29 million) of the $288 million it owes for an incinerator it bought. The total obligation for the incinerator comes to roughly $6,000 per citizen of the city. It is a debt that can't be repaid and should have never been lent.

Unless you happen to live in Harrisburg, you probably didn't see this item in your local paper. And you probably wonder why we'd lead with it in the Digest. After all, why should the impending bankruptcy of a small Pennsylvania city matter to you? (more)

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