How American cities could cause the next financial crisis

When it comes to bankrupt or near-bankrupt states, the focus right now is all on Europe. We've got Ireland figuring out what to do about Anglo-Irish Bank, with the final bill put at €29.3bn this morning (although it could hit €34bn in a 'severe hypothetical stress scenario'). And we've got the usual rumblings about Greece and Portugal and all the rest just waiting in the wings. But maybe everyone's looking in the wrong place. Because it's not just little 'peripheral' euro-economies that are in trouble. In fact, some far, far bigger economies – some of them among the world's largest – are in just as big a mess. We're talking about the largest states in the US.