We're Last And We're Proud

The Brattleboro Reformer applies its usual rhetorical tools – hacksaw and ball peen hammer – to the report issued yesterday by the American Legislative Exchange Council.  This report, as noted here, ranks Vermont 50th in "economic competitiveness." 

Rankings like this come along every few weeks and prove, essentially, what they set out to prove.  As Art Woolf said to a Freeps reporter, "The results are reflections of the criteria.”  And, in this case, the criteria had a lot to do with taxes.  Vermont taxes its citizens and business lustily and that much is undeniable.  Still, merely pointing this out seems to set some people off.  Especially editorialists at the Reformer who, in attempting to demolish the ALEC report, note that:

So in the survey, Vermont was 48th in the top marginal personal income tax rate (9.5 percent), 37th in the corporate tax rate (8.9 percent) and 47th in property tax burden ($49.68 per $1,000 of income). Vermont was also rapped for having an estate tax.
 
Utah, on the other hand, has no personal income tax and no estate tax. The top corporate tax rate is 5 percent and the state is 13th in property tax ($27.30 per $1,000).

To which the reader says:  “And your problem is?

The Reformer goes on to sneer that:

The ALEC study doesn't seem to like state governments that provide services to its residents.
With 643.4 public employees per 10,000 residents, Vermont was ranked 43rd. Utah came in 10th with 505 per 10,000 residents.

At which point the ref threw a flag and penalized the Reformer 15 yards for committing a non sequitur. 

The penultimate paragraph of the Reformer’s editorial takes after 

Advocates of rock-bottom corporate taxes, liberalized investment laws and labor "flexibility" -- the so-called Celtic Tiger formula that Ireland employed in the 1990s …

That probably means … us.  To which we plead, guilty.  Even though, according to the Reformer,

The flip side of the economic transformation of Ireland is that its wage growth has been well below the rate of inflation for the last two decades and it has the lowest spending on public services in Europe.
   

Ireland still looks pretty good to us.  Though that story is getting a little long in the tooth and Estonia may be the new model for robust economic expansion fueled by low taxes and generally pro-growth policies. 

Most people want to prosper and even in places like France, they are beginning to understand that higher taxes and a menu of sclerotic state services  and regulations won’t get it done.  One of these days, the news may even reach Brattleboro.  But don't hold your breath.

Comments

[GreggB]

We have met the enemy and she lives amongst us.

[Lazarus Long]

The State of Utah does have a personal income tax.