Seven U.S. cities, mostly in older, industrial areas, are facing economic problems similar to those of Greece and Spain.
Moody's Investor Services and Standard & Poor's have identified debt pressures in the following cities as particularly heavy:
- Harrisburg, Pa.
- Woonsocket, R.I.
- Detroit
- Pontiac, Mich.
- Harvey, Ill.
- Littlefield, Texas
- Central Falls, R.I.
When cities default, vendors, such as road construction and garbage collection firms usually take a harder hit than bondholders because cities want to be able to borrow again.
Residents often feel the most pain, losing city jobs and services while being faced with higher taxes.
This article is copyrighted by International Business Times, the
business news leader