The Cycle

It's always such a shame to read about local governments cutting spending and raising taxes to make ends meet in the midst of an economic downturn. This sort of thing only does further harm to the economy. What you ought to have is a situation where surpluses are built-up during the fat years and spent-down during the lean ones. Obviously you can see why practical politicians in the real world don't behave that way, but states could presumably adopt rules requiring local governments to do that.