Special Briefing

Special Briefing

Brought to you by the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research and the Volcker Alliance, Special Briefing examines the fiscal conditions of cities, counties, and states and how they’re impacted by decisions from Washington. We bring federal, state, and local government leaders together with prominent researchers, economists, and investors to reflect on today’s most salient and critical public finance issues. Be sure to subscribe to Special Briefing to stay up to date on the world of public finance. Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org Connect with us @PennIUR on @VolckerAlliance on LinkedIn Special Briefing is published by Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives and made possible by funding from The Travelers Institute, members of the Penn IUR Advisory Board, and the Volcker Alliance. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of Penn IUR or the Volcker Alliance. Recordings of the entire Special Briefings series are available on the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR websites. Subscribe to the Penn IUR newsletter or Volcker Alliance newsletter for advance notice of new Special Briefings.

Episodes

Boosting Infrastructure Investment for Global Cities: Lessons from the $4 Trillion U.S. Municipal Bond Market

June 2, 2026 • 54 mins
Global cities face mounting infrastructure demands at a time when fiscal pressures, climate risks, and constrained public resources are challenging traditional financing models. Against this backdrop, the $4 trillion U.S. municipal bond market has drawn increasing international attention as a model for financing long-term public investment. For a discussion of how municipal bond markets, fiscal decentralization, and subnational gov...
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Special Briefing on War, Inflation, and the Impact on the Economy and State and Local Budgets

April 24, 2026
Economic uncertainty driven by geopolitical conflict and inflationary pressures has reshaped expectations for growth, public finance, and investment across the United States. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR, join our Special Briefing expert panel as we discuss how the war in Iran, elevated energy prices, and policy shifts are infl...
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Special Briefing on Transportation Opportunities & Challenges in the New Federalism

April 2, 2026 • 55 mins
From handing environmental reviews to states and reshuffling federal funding to navigating a looming congressional reauthorization deadline, America's transportation network stands at a critical crossroads. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Leslie Richards, Founder and Director of the Transportation Initiative at Penn (TRIP) and Weitzman School Professor of Practice of C...
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Special Briefing on Addressing the Housing Crisis: Innovative Solutions from Across America

February 26, 2026
From repurposing underused office buildings and shopping centers to making sweeping changes in zoning, cities from coast to coast are taking concrete steps to increase housing construction. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of the Penn IUR and Wharton Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance, join our Special Briefing expert panel as w...
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Special Briefing on The Year Ahead for Cities

February 4, 2026
Eighty percent of Americans live in urban areas, and for them, 2026 is likely to be a year of immense change as the federal government quickens the pace of trillions of dollars in funding cuts to cities, counties, and states expected over the next decade. Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and Wharton Pro...
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Special Briefing on the Outlook for 2026: How States & Cities Will Adapt to Wrenching Change

January 9, 2026 • 54 mins
As a year marked by fiscal uncertainty and shifting federal priorities comes to a close, state and local governments are grappling with structural changes. For a discussion of how federal retrenchment, artificial intelligence(AI)-driven growth, and sharply rising municipal market borrowing market will shape state and local finances in the year ahead, Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance convened a panel of experts for “Special B...
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Special Briefing: AI in Government—More Efficiency but Fewer Workers?

November 28, 2025
The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 sparked an “AI arms race” with trillions of dollars in investment and profound implications for productivity and employment. For a discussion of how generative AI and related technologies are reshaping public sector operations, workforce needs, and infrastructure planning, Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance convened a panel of government, academic, and industry experts for “Special Bri...
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Strategies for Closing the US Infrastructure Gap

October 24, 2025
From the deteriorating Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn, New York, to the aging dams that supply about 70 percent of California’s water, America’s public infrastructure is badly in need of fixing. The nation is estimated to have accumulated about $1 trillion in deferred infrastructure maintenance, and even more will be needed to rebuild or retrofit roads, water plants, schools, and electrical grids to withstand the punish...
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Special Briefing on the Muni Debt Boom: Record Borrowing Amid Budget Strains

October 9, 2025
William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel address the record-shattering boom in state and local borrowing even in the face of federal spending cuts and pressure on budgets. How long the boom will continue in the face of conflicting federal, state, and local priorities will be the big question for investors and g...
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Special Briefing on State Budgets: The Big Squeeze

May 20, 2025 • 53 mins
Join William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Advisor, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor and our expert panel as we address the rapidly darkening outlook for state and local budgets and what this means for policymakers, taxpayers, and investors. Panelists include Jonathan Womer, Director, Rhode Island Department of Administration; Emily Brock, Director, Government Finance ...
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Special Briefing | Mayors under Stress: Financing Local Development around the World

April 28, 2025 • 54 mins
Cities around the world are facing a host of challenges. As the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development observed recently, "places are rethinking how to stay competitive on the global stage. Technological change, the green transition and shifting global value chains are reshaping local economies." Join Eugenie Birch, Co-Director of Penn IUR, and William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Ad...
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Special Briefing: The Future of Mass Transportation under Trump and the GOP

April 1, 2025 • 55 mins
This Special Briefing is focused on the future of mass transportation under the new Administration and Congress. Our expert panel discusses the upsurge in construction funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as solutions to hundreds of billions of dollars in budgetary shortfalls facing transit networks from coast to coast. Speakers include Leslie Richards, Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart...
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Special Briefing: The New Administration's First Month

February 28, 2025 • 54 mins
The first Special Briefing of 2025 offers a deep dive into the new President’s first month and the implications of new policies. Featured speakers include former US Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA); Jeffrey Holland, Vice President, Research, Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Eric Kim, Senior Director, U.S. Public Finance at Fitch Ratings; Vikram Rai, Fixed Income Strategist, Head of Municipal Markets Strategy at Wells Farg...
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Special Briefing: The Road Ahead for the Economy, States, and Localities as Donald Trump and the GOP Take Charge

December 17, 2024 • 52 mins
Major policy shifts in immigration, taxes, trade, energy, health care, and pandemic-era programs passed under the Biden Administration look increasingly likely with Donald Trump capturing the White House and his fellow Republicans taking control of both houses of Congress for the first time in two years. Our panel of experts share their views on what this sea change may mean for the economy and Federal Reserve, as well as the impac...
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Special Briefing: America’s Growth Regions

November 1, 2024 • 51 mins
The US economy’s extraordinary recovery since the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic has continued into the fall of 2025, with inflation retreating and the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates to keep jobs and investment humming along. Our expert panel discusses where the economy is growing fastest—and less fast—and what this means for state and local budgets and finances. Our panel of experts includes Roch...
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Special Briefing: Year Ahead for America’s States and Municipalities

September 27, 2024 • 50 mins
Listen in to this episode of Special Briefing as Bill Glasgall of the Volcker Alliance, Susan Wachter of the Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR), and our panel of experts discuss the year ahead for America’s states and municipalities. Fiscal 2025 will be an especially consequential one, with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates for the first time in almost five years as inflation and the economy cool; t...
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Special Briefing: State Tax Breaks

July 9, 2024 • 53 mins
On this episode of Special Briefing, experts discuss the latest Volcker Alliance issue paper, Benefit or Burden: Evaluating $1 Trillion in State Tax Expenditures. The issue paper addresses how US states hand out massive tax breaks every year to advance policy goals, such as aiding low-income families, spurring business investment and job creation, or mirroring the federal tax code. Known broadly as tax expenditures, these exemption...
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Special Briefing: Doom Loop or Boom Loop—Work from Home and the Challenges Facing US Cities

June 8, 2024 • 52 mins
Ever since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US in 2020 led to a surge in people working from home, New York and other big cities have been forced to reckon with the possibility of a Doom Loop scenario of vacant offices and flagging economies. But given the right set of policies, cities can reverse their fortunes and embark upon a path to a Boom Loop of greater productivity and economic growth. Join Special Briefing as th...
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Special Briefing: America’s $900 Billion Water Crisis

May 3, 2024 • 54 mins
While the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $50 billion to upgrade America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems, much more will be needed to address the nation’s water infrastructure needs amid a changing climate and shifts in population. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the US will need almost $900 billion in water investment over the next twenty years, plus hundreds of billions m...
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Special Briefing: America’s Hot Growth States

April 5, 2024 • 55 mins
Western and southern states including Idaho and Florida were among those growing the fastest from the eve of the pandemic in 2019 through 2022. But there were some surprises as well, with Delaware, Maine, and New Jersey also joining the Census Bureau’s hot growth list. While the ability of many Americans to move to low-tax states and work from home played a large role in the population shift, other factors may have been at pl...
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