Red States Leave Blue States Eating Their Economic Dust in the Post-Pandemic World – Opinion

Red states –those that lean Republican—are performing better economically and gaining more residents than blue states, where economic performance lags behind and residents are fleeing in droves, according to the Wall Street Journal. Let’s start with the job numbers:

The Brookings Institution’s analysis of Labor Department data shows that the percentage of U.S. job opportunities in red states has increased by over half a point since February 2020. While red states have created 341,000 new jobs in that period, blue states still had 1.3 million jobs at May.

Governors of the GOP should be given some credit

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“By many measures, red states—those that lean Republican—have recovered faster economically than Democratic-leaning blue ones, with workers and employers moving from the coasts to the middle of the country and Florida.” https://t.co/UtKczhou4t

— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) July 5, 2022

Given numbers such as these, it’s perplexing that California Governor Gavin Newsom would choose this month to air re-election ads in Florida, of all places, telling residents there that they’re welcome to move to the Golden State. The idea is ludicrous on its face, as Ron DeSantis’ Florida is performing much better than California in a variety of measures.

Let’s look at migration patterns. There were 46 million people who moved from one zip code to the next in 12 months up to February 20, 2022.

Based on the results of the two most recent presidential election, Florida, Texas and North Carolina were the top three states to gain the most. California, New York, Illinois and other states are nearly all blue.

It is hard to imagine a better advertisement than moving to Chicago, sunny and crime-ridden Cali, or Chicago-riddled Chicago. Even worse is the fact that it’s not.

To track each state’s progress toward normal since the pandemic began, Moody’s Analytics developed an index of 13 metrics, including the value of goods and services produced, employment, retail sales and new-home listings. Mid-June saw red in eleven of 15 states. Eight of the top 10 states were blue.

People are starting to notice and are leaving their blue state. “I almost feel like the pandemic differs from any other time I’ve seen. There’s definitely a flight to lifestyle,” said Chris Camacho, chief executive of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, a private consulting group that recruits businesses to Arizona. “Individuals were choosing where to live.”

To escape California’s high costs of living, criminality, and tax burden, hundreds are leaving California.  The Hoover Institute of Stanford reports that there are currently over 900 companies moving from California to escape high living costs, rampant crime and burdensome taxes. Doubled2020.  The Joe Rogan Experience and The Daily Wire are just a few of the notables. This is the message: Companies are being driven away by blue-state policies.

California isn’t feeling blue alone; companies are ditching J.B. Pritzker’s Illinois as well: Hedge-fund company Citadel said recently it would move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami, and Caterpillar Inc. plans to head out to Texas.

New York also feels the heat. In a “once-in-a-century shock to the city’s population,” 479,826 people left New York Between 2019 and 2020, while only 231,439 people moved in. IRS estimated that the tax revenues of those who fled were $19.8 billion.

A combination of the pandemic, and the possibility to work remotely, has prompted a mass exodus from New York city and San Francisco towards sunnier and more accessible cities. Austin has been the beneficiary of this more than anyone else. https://t.co/T6O8p8VJP0

— Fazul U (@fazulboss) July 5, 2022

The WSJ notes that taxes seem to be a major factor in these exoduses.

On average, individuals in the states with the highest number of immigrants paid 3.8% income tax. Four—Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada—charged no income tax at all. On average, 8.0% is the tax rate in 10 of the states which lost most people to moving.

The Journal attributes a lot of this migration from red states into blue to workers’ desire to work remotely. This is a very valid point. But these workers could work remotely in California, Illinois, or New York, yet they’re not. Instead, they’re choosing to get out of Dodge and seek greener pastures in Texas and Florida.

The reason is actually very simple. Blue states such as California have insane, punitive taxes. raisedThe gas tax is one example. (Did you know that three years into this, Newsom still has Cali in a “state of emergency?” Ridiculous.)

Many people in blue states grew up in them, love them, and don’t want to leave. They are being driven out by blue-state policies.