Destin Jenkins > Quotes

“Riots, urban blight, and racial inequality raised the cost of municipal borrowing. The only way to lower it was to address the underlying structural causes, which would be paid for by selling bonds. But to sell more bonds, especially during a time of escalating interest rates and market volatility, meant adding to the burdens of city taxpayers.”
― Destin Jenkins, The Bonds of Inequality: Debt and the Making of the American City

“Debt payments were sacrosanct, not because keeping the promise to lenders was more honorable than serving the people, but because bondholder power was of greater concern to municipal officials than the outrage of ordinary residents. Fixed obligations to both lenders and social services were expensive, but only social welfare was coded as such.”
― Destin Jenkins, The Bonds of Inequality: Debt and the Making of the American City