Amid all the debate about bankruptcy and bailouts and all the headlines about local-government layoffs, benefit cuts, reduced services and tax increases, ponder one simple question:

How the heck did state and local governments get in such trouble?

It's no small matter. State and local governments are a big and growing part of the U.S. economy. They account for 15% of all economic output, up from less than 12% two decades ago. They employ one in every seven workers, more than manufacturing.

Here are four of the big causes of today's fiscal woes:

It was the recession.