introduction: The "great recession," state budgets, and state budget deficits

Public Budgeting and Finance

Volumn 30, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 1-14

  Conant, James K ^a  

^a GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77953886890     PISSN: 02751100     EISSN: 15405850     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5850.2010.00946.x     Document Type: Article

References (14)

1. "13 States Face Total Budget Shortfall of at Least $23 Billion in 2009; 11 Others Expect Budget Problems: Economy, Past Fiscal Decisions are Largely to Blame," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, December 18, 2007. The words in the parentheses were supplied by this author.
2. "States Face Dire Fiscal Situation," National Conference of State Legislatures, February 3, 2009.
3. Papers on these states were originally prepared for the Public Finance and Budgeting Section of the Western Social Science Association's 51st Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM April 16-18, 2009.
4. "Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity," National Bureau of Economic Research, December 11, 2008, p. 1.
5. An interesting discussion of why most economists did not see the recession coming can be found in Robert J. Samuelson's, "Economists Out to Lunch," The Washington Post July 6, 2009, p. A15.
6. "States in Trouble Due to Economic Downturn," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 20, 2008.
7. "Update on State Budget Gaps Still Bleak," National Conference of State Legislatures, February 2009, and "Initial Action to Close FY 2009 Budget Gaps," National Conference of State Legislatures, February 2009.
8. "States Face Dire Fiscal Situation," National Conference of State Legislatures, April 23, 2009.
9. Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
10. NCSL Update, June 2009. Individual states moved out of and into these totals as the recession and state responses to the recession took hold.
11. The state of Wisconsin was in this condition when the 2001 recession hit. See James K. Conant, "Wisconsin's Budget Deficit: Size, Causes, Remedies, and Consequences," Public Budgeting and Finance 23, no. 2 (2003): 5-25.
12. The state of Georgia was in this enviable position during the 2001 recession. See Thomas P. Lauth, "Budgeting During a Recession Phase of the Business Cycle: The Georgia Experience," Public Budgeting and Finance 23, no.2 (2003): 26-38.
13. It is possible that elected officials in Illinois did not use "other reserves" because none were available.
14. National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Budget and Tax Updates," July 2009; available from: http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=17253: accessed on 15 December 2009.