Comments on: Private versus Public http://atlasapple.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/private-versus-public/ Critical thought on American Policy, Economy and the theory of Evolution Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:13:15 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Brian Danahy http://atlasapple.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/private-versus-public/#comment-47 Brian Danahy Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:40:44 +0000 http://atlasapple.wordpress.com/?p=41#comment-47 Also, excuse my poor spelling - "municiple" Also, excuse my poor spelling – “municiple”

]]> By: Brian Danahy http://atlasapple.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/private-versus-public/#comment-46 Brian Danahy Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:38:49 +0000 http://atlasapple.wordpress.com/?p=41#comment-46 Tom - I don't pretend to have an excellent grasp of the intricacies of this issue (as you know), so indulge me in a few naive questions - First, are there valid reasons as to why municipalities would be evaluated by different standards than corporations? Could the analysis towards determining the risk of default of a corporate debt be inapplicable towards determining the risk of default of municiple debt for any reasons, including the different "goals" of the two entities? Second, how complicit are the municipalities in this? Was there any sort of transparency in the criteria used to evaluate the municipalities? Is there some way the ratings agencies / bond insurers are "scratching the back" of the municipalities? Tom – I don’t pretend to have an excellent grasp of the intricacies of this issue (as you know), so indulge me in a few naive questions –

First, are there valid reasons as to why municipalities would be evaluated by different standards than corporations? Could the analysis towards determining the risk of default of a corporate debt be inapplicable towards determining the risk of default of municiple debt for any reasons, including the different “goals” of the two entities?

Second, how complicit are the municipalities in this? Was there any sort of transparency in the criteria used to evaluate the municipalities? Is there some way the ratings agencies / bond insurers are “scratching the back” of the municipalities?

]]>