It turns out that the only way to negotiate a budget for the world's eighth biggest economy is to issue politicians with toothbrushes and lock them in a building. California's legislators have spent the past three months debating how to fill a $42 billion fiscal hole. Officials have given warning of fiscal Armageddon, bureaucrats have been forced to take unpaid leave and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's governor, has accused members of his own party of innumeracy-all to no avail. But a few nights of indoor camping seems to have concentrated minds.rnAs The Economist went to press a Republican senator appeared willing to cast a decisive vote in favour of the budget, which requires the approval of two-thirds of legislators. The process has been messy, but revealing. Investors sometimes say that recessions help to reveal flaws in business models. This one has exposed deep cracks in the state of California.
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