Prosperity Reigns in Right to Work, Low Tax States

According to the March 29th Richard Rahn (Newsmax) article, Right to Work and Lower Taxes appear to deliver a one-two punch in states fights against unemployment and personal income decline.  In fact, Right To Work states lead in economic prosperity and personal income growth. State Economic Climate Economic Performance Ranking 2010 Business Tax Climate Ranking 2011 Small Business Survival Ranking 2011 Population Growth 2000-2010 Right to Work Florida 5 5 6 17.6% Yes Virginia 8 12 14 13.0% Yes Tennessee 10 27 11 11.5% Yes Texas 19 13 3 20.6% Yes California 46 49 48 10.0% No New Jersey 48 48 50 4.5% No New York 50 50 49 2.1% No Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council, Tax Foundation, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, U.S. Census Bureau, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.   From Rahn's article: “Fiscal crisis hits the states” has become this year’s most boring and repetitive headline. But what is largely overlooked is that some states are doing relatively well — such as my home state of Virginia — and are, in fact, balancing their budgets without draconian budget cuts or tax increases. Given the ongoing fight between public-employee unions and some state governors, it is interesting to observe that the “right to work” states (that is, those states where workers are not forced to join a union against their will in order to obtain a specific job) also had much better performances than in those states where workers are not protected from involuntary unionism.