It turns out that rising taxes and non-existent growth are not desirable traits for business. CEO Magazine, a trade magazine for business leaders, ranked Connecticut the 45th best (?) state for business in 2013. Texas was the top ranked state for the second year in a row while New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, and California rounded out the bottom of the list.
The comments from CEOs are revealing: “Connecticut continues to be controlled by the state and teachers unions. Unfunded pension liability and other mandated costs contribute to high taxes which make CT unfriendly to new business. The politicians just don’t get it.”
Another one was more blunt: “Connecticut is the worst. Poor leadership.”
The sad stat is simply the latest in a long parade of sad stats on Connecticut’s economy. In January, Yankee pointed to the state’s List of Lasts, the half-dozen rankings on which Connecticut isn’t first or tenth or even 45th but rather dead last. More recently at the Yankee PolicyWiki, we recorded that Connecticut’s income growth was the second worst in the nation in 2012.
The good news is that Connecticut can get back on top. The state needs pro-growth policies: pension reform, Medicaid reform, tax reform, and energy reform to liberate the marketplace and propel Connecticut back to the top where it belongs. Other states are leading the way: Ohio jumped an incredible thirteen positions in the CEO Magazine rankings between 2012 and 2013.
Connecticut can and must do the same.
