Overview

Eighty percent of Americans live in urban areas, and for them, 2026 is likely to be a year of immense change as the federal government quickens the pace of trillions of dollars in funding cuts to cities, counties, and states expected over the next decade. Our expert panel from government and Wall Street will dissect how urban America and its leaders will cope with this new brand of fiscal federalism. Speakers to be confirmed.

Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and Wharton Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance, this briefing is the sixty-fifth in a series of sixty-minute online conversations featuring experts from the national research networks of the Volcker Alliance and Penn IUR, along with other leading academics, economists, and federal, state, and local leaders. 

Special Briefings are made possible by funding from The Travelers Institute, the Volcker Alliance, and members of the Penn IUR Advisory Board. Recordings of the entire Special Briefings series are available on the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR websites. 

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