North Dakota Fights Wall Street's Influence With a State Bank

``A number of other mineral-rich states were initially not affected by the economic downturn, but they lost revenues with the later decline in oil prices. North Dakota is the only state to be in continuous budget surplus since the banking crisis of 2008. Its balance sheet is so strong that it recently reduced individual income taxes and property taxes by a combined $400 million, and is debating further cuts... If its secret isn't oil, what is so unique about the state? North Dakota has one thing that no other state has: its own state-owned bank.''