Much more at site. Interesting number crunching:
The Volokh Conspiracy - -
[/QUOTE[Jim Lindgren, April 22, 2009 at 1:18am] Trackbacks
High Unemployment States Have High Income Taxes or High Unionization or Both. As the nation considers increasing marginal tax rates and facilitating greater union membership, I thought it might make sense to look at the states with the highest and lowest unemployment rates to see if there might be any relevant patterns.
The six states with the highest unemployment rates are:
12.6% Michigan
12.1% Oregon
11.4% South Carolina
11.2% California
10.8% North Carolina
10.5% Rhode Island
The six states with the lowest unemployment rates are:
5.2% Iowa
5.2% Utah
4.9% South Dakota
4.6% Nebraska
4.5% Wyoming
4.2% North Dakota
....
Funny how the author stops at the top 6 and the bottom 6. Why not the top 7 and the bottom 7?
I'll tell you why. Because Nevada has the seventh highest unemployment rate BUT NO INCOME TAX AT ALL - and that wouldn't fly with the conclusions that the author has preordained.
Here's the top 12
State Unemployment Top tax Rate
Michigan 12.600 4.350
Oregon 12.100 9.000
South Carolina 11.400 7.000
California 11.200 9.300
North Carolina 10.800 7.750
Rhode Island 10.500 8.750
Nevada 10.400 0.000
Indiana 10.000 3.400
Kentucky 9.800 6.000
Florida 9.700 0.000
Ohio 9.700 6.240
Tennessee 9.600 0.000
Seems that three of the top 12 have no income tax rate at all.
Or you simply state that 9 of the top 12 have an income tax rate, thus easily linking the increased likelihood of higher unemployment with higher taxes.
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