It contains such off-putting phrases as "average growth and standard deviation" and "short-term elasticity," but a 20-page report issued Thursday by the Legislature's budget analyst is one of the most important documents ever to surface in the Capitol. The report, entitled "Revenue Volatility in California," provides statistical proof for what followers of state budgetary politics have known for years: California's state and local tax system is a mess and lies at the heart of its chronic budget crisis. A complex, intertwined set of political, economic and demographic factors has changed a once-stable system of taxation - personal and corporate income...
