Keynesian disciples hardest hit.
Note how the NY Times buries the fact that a GOP governor is responsible for the turnaround in the 16th out of 20 paragraphs.
(NYT) — Over most of the past decade, budget deliberations in Michigan have taken on a glum and familiar monotony: What do we cut now?
But the state that experienced an economic downturn earlier, deeper and longer than most of the rest of the country has made an unlikely discovery as its officials closed out its latest financial books: Michigan has a $457 million surplus.
Even more surprising: Revenues, which had sunk or had been mostly flat for all but one year since 2000, have grown. Not a lot, but grown.
Michigan is the most unlikely example of a phenomenon that was unimaginable in most states in recent years. Though nearly all states are required by law to balance their budgets, most have been able to do so only through rounds of painful spending cuts to make up for deep shortfalls in revenue.
Now, however, as a majority of states have begun collecting tax revenues that are on par with or even above expectations, they face some measure of Michigan’s situation — trying to sort out whether the worst is really over, whether it is safe to start spending again, or whether a rainy day fund may be the prudent course. […]
Mr. Nixon attributed the improved state budget outlook to the state’s broader economic uptick, but also, in part, to tax and policy changes Governor Snyder pressed. The state replaced a business tax with a corporate income tax that is expected to save businesses $1.5 billion a year, though that change did not take effect until January.