Libro: When states go broke: origins, context, and solutions for the American States in fiscal crisis
Resumen: American states came into existence as self-constituting legal entities in 1776. Since then they have continued to face the persistent problem of what and how much to tax, on what and how much to spend, and whether some expenditures should be financed through borrowing. These problems are not new nor will they ever go away as long as there are states. The current state fiscal crisis (2009 to 2011) is one in a series of crises that will be repeated in the future. Fiscal crises arise when revenues unexpectedly fall, expenditures unexpectedly rise, or some combination of the two produces a situation in which taxes must rise, spending must decrease, and/or borrowing must increase. Hope springs eternal in America, however, and for close to 200 years, state governments and their citizens have regularly tried to prevent the next crisis from occurring by changing the constitutional rules that constrain state government taxing, spending, and borrowing. The term ¿fiscal constitutions¿ includes constitutional provisions regarding taxing, spending, and borrowing. How and why the rules of fiscal constitutions have changed and the interaction of the rules with fiscal crisis over time is our concern.
