We use two measures of fiscal policy—the high–employment budget and fiscal impetus—to examine the interplay of the macroeconomy and state and local government budgets. We find that each one percent increase in GDP raises state and local net saving (as measured in the NIPA) by 0.1 percent...

We examine the effect of balanced budget rules on budget outcomes in the U.S. from the mid-1980s through the present. Rules at both the federal level and the state level are considered. Given the relatively short duration of the federal rules and corresponding lack of data points, we adopt a...