Out of Control

Okay, back when I was in college studying econ, I learned that a recession is defind as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

It seems the folks over at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) were glancing through a different textbook. According to this recent release, NCSL says many states are in a recession because their budgets are a wreck. As their Executive Director explains:

"The fiscal situations have declined so much in some states that they appear to be in a recession.”

Come again? The always interesting Real Clear Markets has a rollicking smackdown of the NCSL report by Steven Malenga.

And then, what's this? Today we learn that governments have been on something of a hiring binge. Hmm...hiring lots of new workers. Tight budgets. I wonder if there's a connection??