Loose Ends... Vol. L

Indiana passed a budget this week and avoided a partial shut down of state operations. I have not been able to find a nice summary of the budget; I'll keep looking. In the meantime, I'd like to offer the data in the table below.

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Sunshine Review, and Stats Indiana

As you can see, government expenditures have been increasing since 2000. The amount of spending as a percentage of state GDP has also been increasing. Not surprisingly, per capita spending has also been on the rise. This data is in nominal dollars and not adjusted for inflation. I'll keep looking for a good summary of what was passed and how it stacks up related to this data.

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California did not pass a budget to close the gap. They have effectively run out of money and are issuing IOU's (registered warrants) instead of cutting checks. You can review the dire situation here at the Controller's website.

This is an important story to follow. There is no comfortable way to close the massive budget deficit in California. They have delayed taking significant steps and are on the verge of default. It's game of chicken between the state and Washington D.C. The talk of California receiving a bailout should heat up soon.

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Happy Independence Day! (A day late.)

Have a read of the Declaration of Independence here.