Thesiss

State governments establish “rainy day” funds, primarily to smooth state finances during years of fiscal downturns. This dissertation tests the effect of these funds on state governments' ability to mitigate tax rate increases throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Previous studies tes…

In response to crises of unsustainable debt, which left Greece, Ireland, and Portugal locked out of bond markets, each country received assistance from the “Troika” (European Commission, European Central Bank, and IMF). They received loans in return for implementing austerity po…