Municipal Bond Turmoil: Some Positive Benefits

The municipal bond markets cratered last week. Munis were actually yielding as much as U.S. treasuries. But the interest paid on munis is tax free to the bond holder. So the de facto yield of some munis on Friday was app.8% when the taxes were considered. This historic inversion of the treasury/muni relationship was an example of further fallout from the margin calls generated by "marking to market" security postions that is demanded by standard acounting practices. Probably the accounting rules will have to be modified somewhat. Maybe a longer period of time and an average price will have to be used before a margin call is generated.

But in the meantime cities,counties and states are having a rough time raising affordable money for their projects. For example yesterday the Houston Independent School District had to withdraw its planned $ 385 million bond issue because of the extreme rise in cost. Maybe that's a good thing. There has long been the glaring fact that there is no meaningful connection between money spent and a quality education for youth. So now market forces in the bond maket will force local and state officials to discriminate more on how to use their limited options on what projects to pursue and fund. Do we want water and sewage infrasructure upgrades or more money thrown down the rathole of school bureaucracies?

A Prayer For Too Tall Buildings In San Francisco

The Transbay Authority is about to adopt the recommendation of it's advisory jury and allow the building of a 1200 foot tower high-rise at First and Mission Streets. The objective of the new Transbay Terminal and office complex is primarily to accomodate and in fact nurture an increaase of traffic through the downtown area of the city. You know, "If we build it they will come". So there will be more cars, mores buses, more trains, more people, more noise, more pollution.

Eight hundred of the 1200 foot tower will be new office space. So that will add to the demand of our incresingly limited water supplies and sewage treatment facilities. The builders are throwing in a 5.4 acre elevated park as a chump change tip to the eco-crowd. Let's see, app. 250,000 sq.foot park subtracted from 1.8 million sq.foot project doesn't qualify the project as anything but a eco-disaster.

It will probably get built. But I predict one day it will fall because of the unstable land and the hubris of it's height irresistibly temtps nature. Hopefully the jerks that built it are in the building at the time.