Special Briefing

About Special Briefing

Brought to you by the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research and the Volcker Alliance, Special Briefing examines the fiscal conditions of cities, counties, and states and how they’re impacted by decisions from Washington. We bring federal, state, and local government leaders together with prominent researchers, economists, and investors to reflect on today’s most salient and critical public finance issues. Be sure to subscribe to Special Briefing to stay up to date on the world of public finance. Learn more about Penn IUR at: penniur.upenn.edu Learn more about the Volcker Alliance at: volckeralliance.org Connect with us @PennIUR on @VolckerAlliance on LinkedIn Special Briefing is published by Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives and made possible by funding from The Travelers Institute, members of the Penn IUR Advisory Board, and the Volcker Alliance. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of Penn IUR or the Volcker Alliance. Recordings of the entire Special Briefings series are available on the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR websites. Subscribe to the Penn IUR newsletter or Volcker Alliance newsletter for advance notice of new Special Briefings.

Publisher

Volcker Alliance & Penn IUR

Category

government

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Apr 2020

Latest episode

2 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

21 of 70 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   2 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Boosting Infrastructure Investment for Global Cities: Lessons from the $4 Trillion U.S. Municipal Bond Market

   William Glasgall and Susan Wachter interview Emily Brock, Alexander Chilton, Sean Dougherty, Pietrangelo De Biase, and Paul Smoke on leveraging the U.S. municipal bond market to boost global city infrastructure investment.

2. 

   24 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Special Briefing on War, Inflation, and the Impact on the Economy and State and Local Budgets

   William Glasgall and Susan Wachter interview Natalie Cohen, Julia Coronado, Kim Norton, Brian Sigritz, and Mark Zandi about how war and inflation impact economic growth and state and local budgets.

3. 

   2 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Special Briefing on Transportation Opportunities & Challenges in the New Federalism

   William Glasgall and Leslie Richards interview transportation experts on federalism's impact on infrastructure funding and future mobility.

Inside a recent episode

Boosting Infrastructure Investment for Global Cities: Lessons from the $4 Trillion U.S. Municipal Bond Market

Published 2 Jun 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] In other countries, it is less than half, and in many of them, it's actually zero. So how do they actually borrow? So most of the debt comes from commercial or state-owned banks' loans. In some cases, you have municipal agencies that pool resources and lend to them, such as in the Nordic countries. This borrowing is also complemented with co-financing grants, programs at the central government level or at the EU level. So this co-financing, to some extent, is also operates similar to a subsidy that's provided to subnational borrowing. Fiscal discipline in Europe is not enforced by the market, as in the US, mostly. […]

Who has been a guest on Special Briefing

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Emily S Brock
• Alexander Chilton
• Sean Dougherty
• Pietrangelo De Biase
• Paul Smoke

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

48

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

92

Contact Special Briefing

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Special Briefing