Plain Sense Economics

State and local governments have a particularly hard time during economic downturns. The Wall Street Journal, in this article on June 3 reminds us how state tax revenues decline quickly and recover slowly during recessions. This graphic from the article shows that it can take as long as five years for revenues to reach pre-recession [...]

As David Leonhardt, of The New York Times, acknowledges, it is sometimes uncomfortable to draw comparisons with economic policies of the past. From his article on April 1.
Every so often, history serves up an analogy that’s uncomfortable, a little distracting and yet still very relevant.

In the summer of 1933, just as they will do on [...]