New Jersey's Budget Crisis

Matt Bai and David Leonhardt agree that the rising cost of state government and the lack of fiscal restraint on the part of local and state government leaders has lead us to the budget crisis that many states are facing in these uncertain economic times. There are three lessons to be learned from these two articles; local and state governments need to become more efficient, contracts negotiated with public employee unions need to be reasonable, realistic, and affordable, and American's need to lower their expectations of what the government is able to do with the resources available.

Matt Bai gives three reasons for New Jersey's current financial woes, first the state sends 40% of its annual budget to municipalities and school districts in order to compensate for the shortfall in revenue from local property taxes. Second, the state doesn't have the recourses to cover its pension...
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