We’d love to report some good news, Save Jerseyans, assuming we can ever find any!
On Tuesday, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released its latest edition of the Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index. Co-authored by Reagan Economist Art Laffer, the index relies upon “15 economic policy variables to rank the economic outlook of every state.” Everything from the top marginal tax rate to the state minimum wage is included in the calculus.
“While the federal government continues their never-ending descent into a record-setting $35 trillion debt, the only last point of refuge for fiscal sanity rests in our 50 laboratories of democracy – the states,” said ALEC Chief Economist Jonathan Williams. “Americans are voting with their feet and fleeing the high tax, high regulation states like California, New York and Illinois for pro-growth, pro-employment havens like Utah, Idaho, and Arizona, where leaders rely on a set of free market principles and pro-taxpayer reforms that landed those states at the top of our rankings.”
New Jersey is ranked 46th this time around, a slight improvement from its 47th place finish last year but hardly something to celebrate. The Garden State is in the bottom 20% of U.S. states in nine separate categories including overall tax burden (48th).
Click here to view the full report.
