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

The Iran war and resulting surge in oil and gas prices are raising risks for the U.S of stagflation or even worse. Join our panel of experts as we discuss how these clouds may impact the nation’s economy and, especially, the finances of state and local governments just as many are putting finishing touches on their budgets for fiscal 2027. 

While state tax revenues continued to rise in 2025, they are barely keeping up with inflation, and rising expenditures are leaving many states with billions of dollars in budgetary gaps that need to be closed. Their delicate fiscal balancing act may prove more difficult if the current climate grows more unsettled as 2026, a year that may see a shift in control of Congress as well 36 gubernatorial elections. Featuring:

• Natalie Cohen, President and Founder, National Municipal Research
• Julia Coronado, President and Founder, MacroPolicy Perspectives LLC
• Kim Norton, Mayor, Rochester, MN
• Brian Sigritz, Director of State Fiscal Studies, National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO)
• Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody's Analytics
   

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 68th 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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