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

Economic uncertainty driven by geopolitical conflict and inflationary pressures has reshaped expectations for growth, public finance, and investment across the United States. For a discussion of how the war in Iran, elevated energy prices, and policy shifts are influencing economic growth and fiscal conditions for states and municipalities, Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance convened a panel of leading experts for “Special Briefing on War, Inflation, and the Impact on the Economy and State and Local Budgets” on April 17, 2026.

William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Public Finance Adviser at the Volcker Alliance, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR, co-hosted the Special Briefing. 

The panel included 

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

This briefing is the latest in a series of sixty-minute online conversations on public finance 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. 

Be sure to subscribe to the Special Briefing podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio and more. 

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