Advertise on podcast: Moody's Talks - Muniland

Suspension of commercial shipping in the Suez Canal and reduced activity in the drought-afflicted Panama Canal have the potential to reduce revenue at key US ports.

Pension liabilities for large local governments are falling because of higher interest rates. This dynamic — and greater contributions — bodes well for credit quality, though investment risk lingers.

While pandemic pain lingers, our higher education outlook has improved to stable from negative as revenue grows, margins steady and balance sheets remain generally healthy.

We have revised our outlook for the US not-for-profit healthcare sector to stable from negative as a recovery takes hold, largely driven by a slowdown in the growth rate of labor costs.

States’ pension liabilities, a source of credit stress for years, are declining and providing financial flexibility. In England, some local governments are grappling with substantial deficits.

With a slower economy in the central business district, the city projects deficits and we’ve changed our outlook to negative. We’ve done the same for Bay Area Rapid Transit with its ridership drop.

States with legal recreational marijuana are generating tax dollars for various needs, but no more than Nevada’s 2.5% of state revenue. Policy changes, however, have the potential to boost the amount.

With bankruptcy to shed debt and stay open largely unviable, colleges grappling with falling enrollment and rising costs are increasingly closing. In a shutdown, bondholder outcomes are a wild card with the amount of reserves on hand and value of real estate assets playing a role.

ChatGPT’s rollout has sharpened universities’ focus on AI pitfalls such as cheating and benefits like improved educational outcomes. Plus, US ports’ cargo volumes are way down, but business models and finances provide stability.

Kevyn Orr, who led Detroit’s 2013 bankruptcy filing, weighs in on why the landmark event enabled a turnaround for the city and recounts some of the restructuring’s peculiarities, including Renoir’s involvement. At Moody’s, the bankruptcy marked such an inflection point that it prompted changes in our credit analysis. Naomi Richman, a senior vice president in our Public Finance Group, joins the podcast at about the 22:30 mark to comment on those shifts and other reverberations from the Detroit case, while analyst David Strungis discusses the city’s current credit trajectory.

With an EPA proposal, US municipal utilities and cities are facing mounting costs to remove toxic PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, from drinking water. Yet the utilities’ ability to raise customer rates to recoup costs will limit credit risks. Meanwhile, companies that make the chemicals or products with them are dealing with a barrage of lawsuits similar to what hit Big Tobacco and opioid makers.

Moody’s analysts discuss accelerating electric vehicle sales’ effects on US auto insurers and auto finance captives, and implications for state fuel taxes.