Bloated State & Local Governments…

In the period between 1960 and 2000, the Federal Government went from two million total employees to three million. This difference didn’t even track the total growth in population over that period. But in that same period, state and municipal governments went from six million total employees all the way up to 20 million.

And since then, the situation hasn’t really improved. When the “War on Terror” terrified us into giving up a greater portion of our personal liberties for the promise of “security,” these payrolls ballooned again.

Think about it in practical terms; when was the last time you went to the DMV or the county courthouse? There were at least a handful of TSA-style security guards to frisk and scan you…since everyone’s a terrorist until proven innocent these days…who do you suppose pays their bills?

Why you do! And you also pay for another 20 million more state & local employees who rely on over US$74 billion in your annual taxes to keep a roof over their heads. But you have to remember; these outfits aren’t run with the trademark efficiency of business titans like IBM or Microsoft.

Instead - as you can see from the chart at the right - they constantly waffle back and forth from periods of excess savings to periods of excess debt (note that the Census data for this chart ended in 2007…when our crisis was just beginning and state & local governments held a collective savings rate of -10%!)

Sovereign Society Investment Director Eric Roseman chimes in, “The growing funding concerns facing municipalities has already spread to several states, including California, which requires cash to finance a massive budget gap in 2009. California, with a long string of budget deficits has declared a State of Emergency in December as the state runs out of cash. California is the largest issuer of muni debt.”

“What’s truly alarming about December’s scrapped Port Authority offering was the short duration of the fixed-income term of only three years. Investors would typically embrace a short-term note that pays a tax-free yield. But these are not normal times.”

“The rating agencies have also confused investors since the market has lost confidence in their ability to accurately rate and rank credit offerings.”

“As the U.S. economic recession deepens into 2009 it would be advisable to avoid tax-exempt municipal bonds, despite their attractive yields. The risk is too high. You’ve got to believe that many more cities, towns and states will suffer from a credit squeeze coupled by a lack of buyers as revenues continue to decline in a deteriorating economy. Avoid muni bonds.”