Red States Versus Blue States: Jonathan Williams on The Lars Larson Show
We've Seen a Trend of States Realizing Even in the Old So-Called Rust Belt States Are Realizing They Need to Reinvent Themselves and Become Competitive States.
Jonathan Williams, ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist, spoke with Lars Larson about the latest edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index and how state policies can impact economic opportunity and personal freedom.
“There are a lot of red states out there doing much better than others. The states that are red are following a free-market approach and continually gaining more Americans (new residents) – that has been one of our key findings. Americans continue to vote with their feet by moving away from big government states run by so-called progressives because they are hemorrhaging jobs, individuals, and businesses. Oregon, as you know all too well, has a huge outmigration in recent in recent years. They’re going to states that value economic opportunity and more personal freedom. States like Texas in Florida gained more than 200,000 to 300,000 last year alone.
“When you look at the big blue states like California and New York, both have lost more than 300,000, on net, over the last year alone. So these trends that we’ve been talking about for more than a decade and half are continuing to really pick up steam. If we learned anything coming out of the pandemic it’s that employers need to provide employees more flexibility when it comes to where they can live. They can work anywhere and they’re absolutely doubling down on the idea of going to states that value lower taxes more economic freedom.”