Harrisburg crisis

So, what's the story with Harrisburg, PA and its bonds?

The WSJ in its weekend edition said: "Officials of Harrisburg ... and the state of Pennsylvania are considering several options, including a short-term bank loan, to help the state's debt-laden capital avoid default on a general-obligation bond payment it is scheduled to make in the coming week...."

As Mr MacKay, of South Park Elementary, would put it: "defaulting is bad, mmm-kay?"

An energy incinerator project seems to be at the heart of the crisis.

The whole thing reminds me of Orange County, Calif., in 1994. Except Harrisburg doesn't have the enviable climate of Orange County.

Fiscal officials in Harrisburg can draw some comfort from this. Their chief OC counterpart, Robert Citron, never actually went to prison. He did 1,000 hours of community service, and five years of supervised probation.

Stupid time.

Marketing Gases

The Airgas annual meeting is set for Wednesday, September 15.

Airgas, based in Radnor, Pennsylvania, sells gas to industrial and commercial users.

Air Products, another firm in that field, has offered to acquire it, but Airgas management is resisting.

But you've read that much before. What's new?

Just this: Air Products sent a fairly entertaining letter to its rival's shareholders on August 19 detailing what it calls the "numerous inconsistencies and misstatements regarding our bid.