Meredith Whitney: US towns and cities are still too indebted

America's cash-strapped local authorities have run out of 'wriggle room', says Meredith Whitney. Defaults are inevitable.

Controversial US investor Meredith Whitney is sticking by her claim that cash-strapped local authorities in America will default on "hundreds of billions of dollars" of their debt.

Whitney, who rose to fame pre-crisis by accurately predicting that US bank Citigroup would have to cut its dividend, made the 'muni (municipal) bond' call in December.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.