What Is the Remedy for State and Local Fiscal Squeeze During the COVID-19 Recession? More Debt, and That Is Okay
The COVID-19 crisis is placing a tremendous fiscal squeeze on state and local governments in the United States. We argue that the federal government should increase its deficit to fill in the fiscal gap. In the absence of sufficient federal assistance, we recommend that states suspend their balanced...
Saved in:
Published in | American review of public administration Vol. 50; no. 6-7; pp. 584 - 589 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Los Angeles, CA
SAGE Publications
01.08.2020
Sage Publications, Inc SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | The COVID-19 crisis is placing a tremendous fiscal squeeze on state and local governments in the United States. We argue that the federal government should increase its deficit to fill in the fiscal gap. In the absence of sufficient federal assistance, we recommend that states suspend their balanced budget rules and norms and run deficits in their operating budgets to maintain services and meet additional obligations due to the pandemic. A comparison with Eurozone countries shows that states have more than enough debt capacity to run short-term deficits to respond to the crisis. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0275-0740 1552-3357 |
DOI: | 10.1177/0275074020941717 |