What Caused the Massachusetts Fiscal Crisis?

Elissa Braunstein ()

Challenge, 2004, vol. 47, issue 4, pages 17-40

Abstract: Massachusetts, like many states across the country, is facing its worst fiscal crisis since World War II. The consensus among politicians and pundits is that the problem is the recession or, alternatively, "extravagant" state spending in the 1990s. But an analysis of state tax revenue data reveals that the major reason for the budget shortfall is legislated cuts in capital gains and personal income tax rates, along with declines in the yield of the corporate income tax. Without these tax cuts, the state would not be facing a budget crisis at all.

Date: 2004

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