Why Your City's Budget Is Probably Bond-Rated Wrong

Municipal bonds are the building blocks of American infrastructure, but the credit ratings on them are often surprisingly misleading. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a 2025 paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showing that roughly 40 percent of all muni bonds carry a split rating from Moody's and S&P Global, and that the divergence can cost a medium-sized city hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra interest — year after year. They walk through the case of Jefferson County, Alabama's sewer debt debacle, how pension underfunding distorts ratings, and why the SEC is now quietly investigating the 'ratings shopping' that happens when cities hire their own agencies. A specific, practical look at the hidden friction in public borrowing. #MunicipalBonds #CreditRatings #Moodys #SPGlobal #JeffersonCounty #SewerDebt #PensionCrisis #SEC #BondMarket #Infrastructure #FiscalPolicy #PublicFinance #NewYorkFed #Economics #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #GovernmentBorrowing #SplitRating Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo