Growth engines

Federal taxes are rising, but smart states are heading in the opposite direction:

Washington may be a tax reform wasteland, but out in the states the action is hot and heavy. Nine states—including such fast-growing places as Florida, Tennessee and Texas—currently have no income tax, and the race is on to see which will be the tenth, and perhaps the 11th and 12th....

A new analysis by economist Art Laffer for the American Legislative Exchange Council [Rich States, Poor States] finds that, from 2002 to 2012, 62% of the three million net new jobs in America were created in the nine states without an income tax, though these states account for only about 20% of the national population. ...

If Laffer is right, that is a huge disparity.