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Abstract: 

This issue and Volume 33 Number 4 of the Municipal Finance Journal are dedicated to the late John E. Petersen, a highly regarded expert on municipal finance and the municipal bond market. The articles in this two-part series pay tribute to John by examining topics that were germane to his career and by discussing John’s significant contributions to the field of municipal finance. Part 2 of this double issue series, Volume 34, Number 1, addresses state and local government financial management. James E. Spiotto describes state roles in local government financial management and the mechanisms used to assist and provide oversight to municipalities. Drawing largely from the work of John and his colleagues in the recently published Oxford Handbook of State and Local Finance, Robert Ebel and Ha Vu address the impacts and implications of the Great Recession for state and local finance. Paul Zorn examines recent legislative changes to public pension benefits and the resulting legal challenges. The final paper, written by Maria (Mila) Freire, focuses on international municipal finance, another area in which John made a major contribution. Freire reviews recent developments in subnational finance outside the United States, highlighting the impact of the recent fiscal crisis on local governments’ spending and debt.

Keywords: John Petersen; public finance; recession; public pensions; subnational finance

Affiliations:  1: University of Illinois Springfield; 2: NACo Financial Services Corporation; 3: The Spain Group LLC.