Since municipal sector spending represents almost 14% of Hungarian GDP, imbalances in municipal finance have a measurable effect at the macroeconomic level. The current government is setting new rules on local borrowing. With the rare two-thirds majority in parliament, it has the chance to introduce long awaited reforms, although they are likely to be met by intense opposition at the local level.

This Big City, Big Ideas lecture features Leslie Koch, President of The Trust for Governors Island, New York.

This panel discussion is moderated by David Crombie, President, David Crombie and Associates, and former Mayor of Toronto. The panelists included: John Matheson, Partner, Strategy Corp.; Lorne Sossin, Dean, Osgoode Hall Law School and City of Toronto Open Meeting Investigator; Karim Bardeesy, Editorial Writer at the Globe and Mail, and 2011 DiverseCity Fellow; and Fiona Crean, Ombudsman, City of Toronto.

This Big City, Big Ideas lecture features Ricky Burdett, Director of the London School of Economics Cities and Urban Age Program, was entitled Living in the Endless City: Global Challenges in an Urban Age.

IMFG Visiting Scholar Izabella Barati-Stec presents on, "The Practice of Municipal Finance in Hungary." Barati-Stec is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Economics, at Corvinus University, Budapest.

Prominent city-builder Anne Golden presents insights on what she has learned about cities.

Casey G. Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, at Canada West Foundation, presents on "New Tools for New Times: Innovative Infrastructure".

Cayley Burgess presents on "Preparing for the Costs of Extreme Weather in Canadian Cities: Issues, Tools, Ideas". Cayley is the 2011 recipient of the IMFG Graduate Fellowship in Municipal Finance and Governance.

Gabriel Eidelman presents on "Landlocked: Exploring Institutional Inertia on Toronto's Waterfront, 1960-2000". Gabriel is the 2011 recipient of the Blanche and Sandy van Ginkel Graduate Fellowship in Municipal Finance and Governance.

The fourth lecture in our "Moving Our Region: Transportation for the Future" series is entitled, Funding Transportation for the Future: Strategies for Winning Public Support, featuring John Inglish and Barry Watson and moderated by Joe Berridge.