13 American Cities Going Broke: 24/7 Wall St.
By Michael B. Sauter, Alexander E.M. Hess, Samuel Weigley
Huffingtonpost.com
10/27/2012
From 24/7 Wall St.: Earlier this year, the city of Stockton, California, defaulted on its debt and filed for bankruptcy. For analysts at ratings agency Moody’s, it marked a growing trend in local governments. Cities, which have historically been nearly flawless on their obligations, are opting to default on their debt because of financial troubles.
Read: Thirteen American Cities Going Broke
In a report issued Wednesday, Moody’s rated the debt of 30 cities, towns, villages, counties, and school districts as “speculative grade,” up from 25 last year. A speculative-grade rating for a local government means, at best, its debt is risky and, at worst, it could end in default. 24/7 Wall St. looked at 13 of the riskiest local governments that may be on the verge of bankruptcy.
In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Moody’s Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer of U.S. Public Finances, Anne Van Praagh, explained that the number of cities, counties and towns that default on some or all of their debt is growing. She attributes this to “a significant amount of credit pressure, sluggish economic recovery, and cities not being able to grow out of their problems this time around.” She added that many cities see defaulting as the only way to avoid total economic disaster.
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