On December 18, 2012, the State Budget Crisis Task Force convened at Roosevelt House to release their report on New York State’s current economic challenges. The nonpartisan group, co-chaired by former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch and by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker was initially conceived of to assess “the ability of the states to meet their obligations to public employees, to creditors and most critically to the education and well-being of their citizens,” according to Ravitch and Volcker in their forward to the report.  Finding that the recession had exposed “longer-term structural gaps,” the task force offered a sobering assessment of the state’s economic outlook.  In particular, the report raised concerns about state spending levels on medicare and education, as well as localized dangers posed by Wall Street’s continual ups and downs. The meeting was attended by policymakers, journalists and economists, and was introduced by Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab.

Watch video from the release:

For more information on the report, see the State Budget Crisis Task Force website or download a copy of the report, below: