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Home > The Document > California’s fixation on balanced budgets has compounded the state’s big problems
Podcast: The Document
Episode:

California’s fixation on balanced budgets has compounded the state’s big problems
Category: TV & Film
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2021-01-21 14:00:00
Description:

Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews has come with a word that describes what he calls the state’s obsessive and unhealthy aversion to red ink: budgetism. Balanced budgets are generally a good thing. Even in this pandemic year, they’ve provided California with a surplus that will come in handy as revenues dip and Covid costs pile up. But Mathews says balanced budgets can also reflect a timidness to address California’s big problems, such as homelessness, a housing shortage and a healthcare system that was unprepared for the coronavirus onslaught. Mathews says politicians should show a willingness to borrow more and take bold steps.
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