Top best/worst states for doing business - TX #1 & CA #50

chiefexecutive.net

5 points·iamchmod··4 comments

If California and New York are the two worst states for businesses, then why are so many tech companies in California, and financial companies in New York? Yes there are more regulations in California, but clearly they are missing something in their rankings.

That's something I've often puzzled over as well. I've came to the conclusion that a business is made up of individuals, and individuals like to live in nice places.

Nice places are often kept that way by means of regulation - Regulation of both the 'no strip malls' type and the 'no strip mining that mountain' type. Plus maybe they inspect fertilizer plants regularly so they don't explode.

Therefore, I'd posit that strong regulation can actually attract business simply by attracting the right types of people. http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/blog/2013/03/republican-messag... expands on this idea further

California: "Major income-tax hike in November hastens self-imposed economic decline."

How does an income tax hike lead to an economic decline? That's more an opinion than a factual statement.

Also the "Domestic Migration" figure is high, but not per-capita. A very populous state like California will obviously have a lot of migration. Alaska sure to come out on top in this department.

This list is without context. Is it based solely on how business friendly the state is in terms of taxes and licensing requirements? Is workforce education taken into account?

Edit: Apparently they give you the ranking information if you click on the individual states.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com