Saturday, January 09, 2010
Are Taxes the Root of Unhappiness? - WSJ.com
This is an interesting article, backed by statistics, that politicians and elected officials should think about.
Unfortunately, I doubt that they will...
Unfortunately, I doubt that they will...
In the Wall Street Journal, Allysia Finley shares the data and concludes:
"Many liberal state governments like those in Albany, Trenton and Sacramento are spending more and more on entitlement programs and public employee pensions, racking up more and more debt, and imposing more and more taxes to pay for it all---while ignoring their taxpayers' needs. Taxpayers, however, aren't just getting unhappy. They're getting out. United Van Lines' 2009 annual study shows that New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois are among the states with the highest outbound migration while Alabama and Tennessee are among the states with the highest inbound migration.
This doesn't bode well for high-spending, high-tax states like New York where outbound migrants' income is 13% greater than that of inbound migrants. In 2006, this differential meant a loss of $4.3 billion in taxpayer income for the state. State governments therefore have a vested interest in keeping residents happy by reducing taxes and reigning in irresponsible spending."
