Which States are Winning and Losing in 2026: Jonathan Williams on Meeting of the Minds
"States can turn themselves around in a relatively short amount of time."
On the Meeting of the Minds podcast, Jerry Bowyer spoke with ALEC President and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams about what trends are helping states become more competitive and others that are stunting growth, based on the findings in the Rich States, Poor States annual state rankings.
The conversation began with Bowyer and Williams diving right into the Rich States, Poor States and its focus on its rankings measuring state economic outlook.
Williams pointed out how states are becoming more competitive in recent years, with 30-35 states moving towards job creation and family-friendly policies.
“As we have these states now competing with each other, and the best ideas will win and rise to the top,” he emphasized. “The trend is states are becoming more and more aware of that.”
Bowyer and Williams then discussed how different states across various regions are approaching their economic policy and the results that have followed from those actions. Williams compared the competitive nature of the Southeast and the Mountain West regions.
“Look across the Southeast, a number of states have embraced good free market economics and lower taxes for a very long time, like Florida, Texas, and more recently North Carolina and South Carolina.”
He then noted how the stagnant regions like the West Coast and the Northeast have been shrinking in terms of population and economic growth.
“You have the stagnant regions like the left coast and the Northeast that you know as a percentage of the overall economy now have been shrinking for quite some time, and certainly population as well as a result.”
Bowyer then turned the conversation to Texas and introduced the topic of redomiciling, where companies change their state of incorporation or headquarters, highlighting Elon Musk’s relocation to Texas. Williams noted the competitive effects of other states vying for corporate headquarters and the potential for states to create more favorable business environments.
“You see it in Texas and other free market states generally,” he said. “It just makes more sense to align the domiciling with the headquarter and just the operations of the company.”
The two then talked about other state turnaround stories that show strong economic growth. Williams shared his excitement about states like Ohio, which have improved their economic outlook through tax and regulatory reforms.
“Ohio had been an outmigration state for many years,” Williams said. However, “Senate President Rob McCauley, an ALEC Board Member, spearheaded this effort to make Ohio a flat tax state and Ohio today is 15th best in economic outlook, where they started out in the bottom five. There’s a lot of great stories like that, but that turnaround from Ohio is incredible.”
In the closing of the conversation, Bowyer and Williams discussed the practical nature of economic reforms and the potential for states to adopt successful policies. Williams shared his optimism about the future of economic freedom and state policies.
“It’s kind of basic economics 101. You change those incentives and make your state a state that can be a magnet for job creators and individuals and families, and make it work. States can turn themselves around in a relatively short amount of time.”