Debt Wish

Debt Wish
Author: Alberta M. Sbragia
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1996-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780822971740

Albert Sbragia considers American urban government as an investor whether for building infrastructure or supporting economic development. Over time, such investment has become disconnected from the normal political and administrative processes of local policymaking through the use of special public spending authorities like water and sewer commissions and port, turnpike, and public power authorities.Sbragia explores how this entrepreneurial activity developed and how federal and state policies facilitated or limited it. She also analyzes the implications of cities creating innovative, special-purpose quasi-governments to circumvent and dilute state control over city finances, diluting their own authority in the process.

Mortgage Revenue Bonds

Mortgage Revenue Bonds
Author: D. Durning
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9401129746

This book brings together much of the best policy-oriented research on state and local mortgage revenue bond (MRB) programs. Most of this re search was conducted to evaluate the impact of MRB subsidies on housing markets and potential home buyers. All of the research is concerned with the "so what" question often ignored by economists: it addresses the implications of the research results for public policy decisions concerning MRBs. The need for this book becomes apparent when reading the transcripts of congressional hearings on MRBs. At those hearings, the policy debate seems underinformed. Aside from discussions of the General Accounting Office's periodic evaluations of MRB programs and impassioned rebuttals by MRB proponents, the hearing testimony consists mostly of assertions and anecdotal evidence, with some "yes MRBs work" and "no they don't" exchanges. Although the research in this book may not improve the level of the policy debate on MRBs, it can inform decision makers, experts, and citizens interested in housing policy about issues that should be examined when considering the future of MRBs. Also, it can point other researchers interested in housing policy in the direction of the questions about MRB programs that need additional attention.