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A Look Into Rich States, Poor States: Jonathan Williams on The Tim Jones & Chris Arps Show

Some states catapulted forward because they elected bold, free market conservative leaders.

Jonathan Williams, ALEC Chief Economist and Executive VP of Policy, joined The Tim Jones and Chris Arps Show on NewsTalk STL breaking down the 17th edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index and discussing the relationship between economic growth and business climate.

We look at let’s say, the top five and this year is Rich States, Poor States for economic outlook. Many of those states fall into that exact category you’re talking about that are landlocked states, but are making the most of it with better, more fiscally responsible and common-sense policies. I’ve talked about Utah many times on this show, they are number one and have them for each and every edition of the report going back 17 years.

Their mix of trying to tackle the property tax rising burdens which they’ve done effectively to their truth and taxation law, reforming their pension system, making sure that they push back against federal overreach and the so called pretty federal funds that we’ve been promised when it comes to Medicaid and some of the other aspects. I mean, Utah has just been ahead of the curve with the flat tax, and you can go on and on.

Idaho is at number two, Arizona at number three, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana back in the heartland at five. North Carolina and Indiana were actually in the bottom half of our rankings towards the start of our Rich States Poor States project years ago, and catapulted forward because they elected bold, free market conservative leaders.

Listen to the full interview.