Public-sector austerity in one graph.
Fifty little Herbert Hoovers — the fifty states — contribute to making this rescession go on. An Ezra Klein graph comparing state and local employment changes in this recession versus the last three.
An update from February 2014. Unlike every last recession, where population growth and public demand kept government jobs growing, the number of public and government jobs continue to decline. At the state level this means mostly public school and public college teachers. For states shrinking government jobs basically means shrinking the number of teachers. Getting government small enough to drown in a bathtub means getting rid of public schools!
From The Week in Feb. 2014, If Obama is such a socialist, then why are government jobs disappearing?
This illustrates the belief that too little government spending led to a longer recession and weaker recovery.