The dollar union: Should we boot Alabama? Should New York secede? (Atlantic)

Europe has Greece. The U.S. has Mississippi. Greece is in financial turmoil. Mississippi continues to stay afloat. This is because the eurozone does not have a history of permanent fiscal transfers from wealthier countries, like Germany, to the poorer countries, such as Greece. It raises the question, not whether Mississippi should get ejected, but whether wealthy states like New York, California, Texas or Massachusetts should strike out on their own. According to the IRS, the four are paying more in taxes than they are receiving in spending. They could spend more, but states can't borrow money. On their own, the could borrow money cheaply enough to eventually run persistent small deficits to make up for spending they received from Washington, like infrastructure, education and health care spending.

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