Scene from the Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy
Reuters
As if New Jersey Governor Chris Christie didn't have enough problems dealing with the Bridgegate scandal and Hoboken allegations, a new study by Sarah Arnett, a professor of Public Policy at Georgia State University, ranks New Jersey dead last among the 50 U.S. states for financial stability.
According to Arnett, "The state's fiscal condition is multifaceted and difficult to measure," she said. "Using a method developed in previous research, I create the cash, budget, long-run, and service-level solvency indices using fiscal year 2012 data to measure the dimensions of the fiscal condition."
The five states with the highest-ranked overall fiscal condition are Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
The five states with the lowest-ranked fiscal condition are New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and California. The top five states all had a surplus in fiscal year 2012 as measured by an increase in net assets, but there are differences in their underlying strengths.
Arnett found that the states with the worst fiscal condition have had years of poor financial management across the different dimensions of fiscal condition.
Ranking Of States By Fiscal Condition Mercatus Center
