New Jersey, Illinois Get an Accidental Economic Reset: Conor Sen

Among the many ripples that came out of the 2008 financial crisis, one was the financial damage to older, slower-growing, heavily-indebted states like Illinois and New Jersey. Investments in infrastructure and public employees had to be put on hold as the governments spent years grappling with budget deficits and high levels of debt. Now, thanks to the surge in tax revenues being delivered by the current economic rebound, these states have an opportunity they haven’t had in 15 years: the ability to invest rather than figuring out how to cut the budget.

It’s a reminder of how federal dollars and ...