It’s no secret that libraries are getting squeezed by repeated budget crises (threatened cuts, then partially restored funding, over several years adds up to libraries that spend more and more time closed). New York City’s proposed budget is yet again threatening big cuts to library funding, in a city where already 30% of libraries are…
Category: Austerity
Bill Seeks to Tie Municipal Borrowing to Public Pension Disclosure – NYTimes.com
There are many policies floating around to reform the muck that is municipal finance these days. A group of U.S. representatives from California are pushing a bill in Congress that would require states and cities to disclose the “true cost” of their pension plans, and whether they can pay those costs. California, of course, is…
Austerity never works: Deficit hawks are amoral — and wrong – Salon.com
I’m finally getting around to reading Robert Kuttner’s great article on austerity and, more specifically, risk and moral hazard. The idea that government (and individuals) must be punished in order to shock them into “living within their means” is so ingrained in our national discourse that its proponents hardly need to articulate it any longer….
Court to Decide on Pensions in Stockton, Calif., Bankruptcy – NYTimes.com
Wall Street is taking America’s biggest pension fund to court this week, for a long-awaited battle over who takes the losses when a city goes bust — workers and retirees, municipal bondholders, or both. California is being closely watched as battles in San Bernardino and Stockton look to reshape how pensions are treated…
Transparency and budget cuts: a winning combination?
There has been a lot of talk about making public data more readily available, and of involving the public (most obviously in the participatory budgeting movement). These two strategies sit in curious counterpoint to the equally popular trend of treating municipal finances as increasingly complex and needing expert (i.e. private sector) intervention. Anyway, here’s a…