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Article: GUEST WORDS: Build America Bonds: An American Success Story.(Commentary)
- Article from:
- The Bond Buyer
- Article date:
- November 2, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 SourceMedia, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Michael Decker
The biggest success story for the municipal bond market to come out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed earlier this year is Build America Bonds.
Since the first transaction in April, issuers nationwide have sold more than $47 billion of BABs at net yields significantly below what they could achieve in the traditional tax-exempt market. While the product is not without flaws and should not be thought of as a replacement for tax-exempt issuance authority, BABs have proven themselves as a useful tool for states and localities.
Many municipal market observers, including myself, were skeptical about BABs when ...