Balanced budgets and proponents often use the experience of the states with balanced budget restrictions as an argument in favor of a federal balanced budget amendment. However, the state experience is not directly relevant to the federal government. State restriction are more lenient than those...

State tax revenues have become far more sensitive to changing economic conditions since the turn of the century. The authors document this increasing volatility and offer suggestions for what state governments might do to better manage their tax revenues to avoid or minimize dramatic fiscal...

The 2001 recession proved alarming to state government finances. A relatively shallow national recession led to a severe downturn in state revenues that took three years to unwind. In the current economic downturn, early signs of fiscal stress are already apparent. This raises several...