Status Updates From The Bonds of Inequality: De...

“In this parable of debt and governance, dependence on the federal government was dangerous, while dependence on the bond market, credit appraisers, bankers, and fickle investors was virtuous. The story spoke to the ways in which advice could masquerade as ideology. Indeed, at the heart of technical advice about debt were moral arguments about governance, democracy, responsibility, and integrity.”

“…the breakdown of public housing does not make sense without exploring bondholder guarantees; the revenue problems of major American cities do not make sense without considering escalating fixed expenditures for debt-service payments; and the prioritization of some infrastructural projects and the steady decline of others is not legible without discussing the evaluative rubrics of bond rating agencies.”