Well, it happened again. For the 14th straight year the Rich States, Poor States report sponsored by the state legislative group The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has assigned the highest grade for the best economic climate in the country to Utah. Low and flat taxation, no unfunded pension problems (the opposite of Illinois), light regulation, and a right to work law make Utah an ideal destination for business, capital and families.
The three authors of the report are CTUP co-founders Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore and ALEC vice president Jonathan Williams.
North Carolina has zoomed up ahead of Arizona, Indiana, Idaho and Florida to take on the number two spot.
Predictably, the big losers are the blue state meccas New York, Illinois, Vermont and California. The two states dropping like a boulder in an avalanche are Michigan (which just became a forced union state), and Washington (which has just adopted a first-ever capital gains tax.
The gold price, the oil price, and the CRB index of commodity prices are starting to rise again. To borrow a phrase from Chairman Jerome Powell: this progress may be “transitory.”
Inflation Has Fallen Fast
The bad news is that, as our senior fellow EJ Antoni points out, real wages and earnings are still down roughly 5% since Biden came into office and passed his $2 trillion spending bill.
5) Quote of the Day - He's Not Officially Mayor Yet, But He's Already on the Job
At least the teachers union got what they paid for. Left-wing The Nation Magazine, predicted how teachers union organizer Brandon Johnson will govern in Chicago.
"Perhaps a glimpse of what kind of mayor he will be was evident in his response to faculty strikes at three Chicago public universities serving largely Black and working-class students. On April 11, Mayor-elect Johnson was on the picket line."
