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The Municipal Finance Conference aims to bring together academics, practitioners, issuers, and regulators to discuss recent research on municipal capital markets and state and local fiscal issues. This year’s conference is a joint venture of The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings, the Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance at the Brandeis International Business School, the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. The 2019 conference took place on July 15-16, 2019. Brookings hosted the bulk of the program, but the cocktail hour and dinner keynote on the evening of July 15 took place at the nearby Capital Hilton.
PAST CONFERENCES:
Agenda
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July 15
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DAY ONE
Monday, July 15 -
Plenary: Climate change and state and local governments
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
The risk of fiscal collapse in coal-reliant communities
Authors: Adele Morris (Climate and Energy Economics Project, Brookings Institution), Noah Kaufman (Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University ), Siddhi Doshi (Brookings Institution)
Presenter: Matthew Kahn (Johns Hopkins University)
Panelist: Tim Coffin (Breckinridge Capital Advisors)
Panelist: Tommy Wells (Department of Energy & Environment, District of Columbia)
[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190715_FALK_MFC-1.mp3[/audio]Moderator
Paula Worthington Senior Lecturer - Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago -
Breakout session I
2:45 pm - 4:15 pm
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Track 1
General purpose local government defaults: Type, trend, and impact (read blog post here»)
Authors: Lang (Kate) Yang (Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University) and Yulianti Abbas (Universitas Indonesia)
Discussant: Triet Nguyen (Axios Advisors LLC)Big data based government economic monitoring (GEM) and targeted action
Authors: Miklos Vasarhelyi, Arion Cheong, Xinxin Wang (Rutgers Business School), William Glasgall (Volcker Alliance), Ricardo Lopes Cardoso (Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil) and Deniz Appelbaum (Montclair State University)
Discussant: Amelia Haviland (Block Center for Technology and Society, Carnegie Mellon University)
Competition and market concentration in the municipal bond market
Author: Dario Cestau (IE Business School)
Discussant: Nicole Moran (Cornerstone Research)
[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190715_SAUL_MFC_BreakoutSession1_Snyder.mp3[/audio]Moderator
Sarah Snyder Managing Director - Ramirez & Co., Inc. -
Track 2
Public pension risk-sharing mechanisms and their potential impacts
Authors: Don Boyd, Gang Chen and Yimeng Yin (Center for Policy Research, University at Albany)The sustainability of state and local government pensions: A public finance approach (read a Q&A with Louise Sheiner on this paper)
Authors: Louise Sheiner (Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution), Jamie Lenney (Bank of England) and Byron Lutz (Federal Reserve Board)Discussant 1: Laura Quinby (Center on Retirement Research, Boston College)
Discussant 2: Tom Aaron (Moody’s)
[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190715_FALK_MFC_Bergstresser.mp3[/audio]Moderator
Daniel Bergstresser Associate Professor of Finance - Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance, Brandeis International Business School -
Panel 1: Payment-in-kind for state & local pensions: Good idea or not? When it is appropriate? When not?
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm
Mike Imber, EisnerAmper LLP
Laura Quinby, Center on Retirement Research, Boston College
Jonathan Steinberg, Member, Connecticut House of Representatives
Todd Tauzer, Segal Consulting[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190715_SAUL_MFC_Panel1_Ryffel.mp3[/audio]Moderator
Richard Ryffel Professor of Practice & Executive Director of Business Leadership - Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Purdue University -
Dinner and keynote
7:00 pm
Dan Hynes Deputy Governor - State of Illinois, Former Comptroller - State of Illinois -
DAY TWO
Tuesday, July 16 -
Breakfast
8:30 am
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Breakout Session 2
9:15 am - 11:00 am
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Track 1
The price of safety: The evolution of insurance value in municipal markets (read the blog post here»)
Authors: Kimberly Cornaggia (Pennsylvania State University) , John Hund (University of Georgia) and Giang Nguyen (Pennsylvania State University)
Discussant: Scott Richbourg (Build America Mutual Assurance Co.)
The economic consequences of GASB financial statement disclosure
Authors: James Naughton (Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University), Michael Dambra (School of Management, University at Buffalo) and Omri Even-Tov (University of California, Berkeley)
Discussant: Gilbert Southwell (Wells Capital Management)
Legal uncertainty and municipal bond yields: Market spillovers from Puerto Rico (read blog post here»)
Author: Chuck Boyer (University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
Discussant: Natalie Cohen (National Municipal Research, Inc.)
[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190716_Falk_MFC_Day_2_Abel.mp3[/audio]Moderator
David Abel Managing Director - Columbia Capital Management LLC -
Track 2
The impact of bank financing on municipalities’ bond Issuance and the real economy
Author: Ramona Dagostino (Simon Business School, University of Rochester )
Discussant: Ivan Ivanov (Federal Reserve Board)
Tax increment financing and economic development
Authors: Komla Dzigbede (State University of New York at Binghamton) and Rahul Pathak (City University of New York)
Discussant: Steve Friedman (SB Friedman Development Advisors)
Infrastructure costs (read blog post here»)
Authors: Leah Brooks (Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University) and Zachary Liscow (Yale Law School)
Discussant: Joseph Kane (Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution)[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190716_Falk_MFC_Day_2_Abel-1.mp3[/audio]Moderator
Kim Rueben Sol Price Fellow & Director of State and Local Finance Initiative - Urban Institute -
Panel 2: Communities left behind: How to narrow the gap between prospering and stagnating communities
11:15 am - 12:15 pm
Tim Bartik, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Chris Berry, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Ingrid Ellen, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI), Member, U.S. House of Representatives[audio]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/20190716_FALK_MFC_Gordon.mp3[/audio]Moderator
Tracy Gordon Co-Director and Acting Robert C. Pozen Director - Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute @gordontrac
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