The $1 Trillion Infrastructure Backlog Cities Aren’t Counting
About this episode
The episode discusses the disconnect between a city's bond rating and its actual infrastructure replacement costs, featuring insights from Richard Ciccarone.
A strong bond rating can tell investors that a city is likely to repay its debt. It says much less about whether that city can afford to replace the roads, pipes, and other infrastructure its residents depend on. Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merit Research Services, developed a new metric using financial statements from nearly 2,000 cities to estimate that burden. When he compared the infrastructure burden with government bond ratings, the correlation was surprisingly weak. Cities can remain attractive to creditors while aging assets accumulate replacement costs that no bondholder can force them to address. Additional Show Notes Richard Ciccarone (LinkedIn) Infrastructure & Capital Assets Commitment Burden: Quantifying the Hidden Fiscal Risk (PDF) 'We Built the Best Interstate System. Now It’s Falling Apart.' (Video) Mission Accomplished Report (Site) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.
People in this episode
Guest: Richard Ciccarone
Topics covered
- infrastructure
- government finance
- bond ratings
- fiscal risk
- city planning
Keywords
- infrastructure backlog
- bond ratings
- fiscal risk
- city debt
- replacement costs
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Merit Research Services
More episodes of The Strong Towns Podcast
- Is Homeownership Still Part of the American Dream?
- Chuck’s Engineering Lawsuit Finally Has a Ruling
- Chuck on Data Centers, YIMBYs and E-Bikes
- This Atlanta Corridor Makes Walking Normal and Deadly
- America’s Half-Funded Highway System
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Strong Towns Podcast podcast page.