In a Bad State: Responding to State and Local Budget Crises

In a Bad State provides the first comprehensive history and theory of how the federal government has addressed subnational debt crises. Tracing the long history of public budgeting at the state and local level, David Schleicher argues that federal officials face a "trilemma" when a state or city nears default. But whether they demand state austerity, permit state defaults, or provide bailouts-and all have been tried-federal officials can only achieve two out of three goals, at best. Authoritative and accessible, this book is a guide to understanding the pressing problems that local, state, and federal officials currently face and the policy options they possess for responding.

David Schleicher is a Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He is an expert in local government law, federalism, land use, state and local finance, and urban development. His work has been published widely in academic journals, including the Yale Law Journal and the University of Chicago Law Review, as well as in popular outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Slate. He has been called "the most important thinker we have on the subject of local government" and "ingenious" by National Review, one of the "most interesting writers on land use" by Washington Monthly, "interesting" by The Nation, "clever" by The Economist, "neat" by Slate, and "great but old fashioned" by Vox. He is also the co-host of the podcast, "Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast."