A weekly presentation of downloadable charts and short analyses designed to graphically illustrate important economic issues. Updated every Wednesday.

Snapshot for October 31, 2001.

Nation sneezes, states catch cold
Reports of stagnating state revenue reflect the deepening national economic slowdown. But despite the slowdown, state spending needs to continue to grow -cutting services or increasing taxes would only worsen the national economic situation. The figure below depicts (in black) the states whose real per capita general fund spending for fiscal year 2002 are set to decrease. All but three states maintain some kind of reserve fund, but the adequacy of such reserves varies. Recessions always hurt some states more than others-before September 11, those states most affected by the slowdown were in the Great Lakes region, but Plains and Southeastern states were also feeling the pain of the economy’s downswing.

This week’s Snapshot by EPI economist Max B. Sawicky.

Check out the archive for past Economic Snapshots.