It occurred to me that the constitution and political conventions oblige states to provide for specific government services (the cost and relative importance of these services changing over time), while states are only able to raise a certain amount of tax since, it seems to me, the sort of taxes states levy are precisely the sort of taxes that are easy to avoid by registering/headquartering your business in another state, buying things online rather than in local shops etc etc.

I might be completely wrong, but does anyone else feel that it is this fundamental, structural, political problem which has caused American states’ budget crises, and not fiscally irresponsible governors and state legislatures (even though they’re the easy targets to blame)? Just a thought I had, would love to hear what you have to say.

edit: format.

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I just want a csv file or something I can play with to test theories! I can pay $20, or I can write something to pull it all (which would take forever, because I suck at that kind of stuff). Why can I not find this data anywhere? Is it just sitting somewhere and I’m being an idiot?

Help!