Which is worse: Having steep tax hikes hit Idaho employers during a recession, or having rates remain high when times are good? Right now, Idaho employers who are paying a 70 percent increase in unemployment tax rates this year are facing bigger hikes next year, as soaring unemployment drains Idaho's unemployment trust fund. The state is also borrowing from the feds for the first time to bail out its fund. Washington, by contrast, has the healthiest unemployment fund in the nation at $3.2 billion, after revamping its system in 2005 at employers' request to focus on stability; no tax hikes or borrowing are being considered there. / More here at Eye on Boise

Question: So is it better to save lots of money when times are good and have to pay more when times are bad, like the Idaho system? Or pay more all along and avoid tax hikes in bad times, like in Washington?