Austin a Magnet for Jobs
In the winners and losers category, Austin, Texas is Among the Covid Winners for job creation.
Texas’ capital is attracting more corporate jobs and remote workers than ever before, lured by lower costs and lower taxes. Business relocations to Austin announced this year are expected to create nearly 10,000 jobs. That is the city’s highest figure on record for a single year, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and is helping offset the hit from Covid-19 to the city’s tourist-dependent restaurants, bars and music venues.
It helps that Texas has no state income tax, that Austin winters are relatively short and mild, and that social distancing is easier in a city where homes tend to be roomy and many have backyards. Austin has also managed to remain cheaper than San Francisco, Brooklyn and Manhattan by building tens of thousands of apartments over the past decade.
“It’s just a whole lot easier to hire. It’s a lot easier to get housing. It’s a lot easier to get business licenses than it is in other places,” said Greg Schwartz, chief executive of real-estate startup Tomo Networks. His company, based in Stamford, Conn., is preparing to open a co-headquarters in Austin.
Low Taxes Attract Companies and People
Contrast Texas with Illinois. The Illinois solution is five fold.
- Higher personal taxes
- Higher corporate taxes
- Higher property taxes
- Higher sales taxes
- Higher taxes disguised as fees
Illinois Exodus
The Illinois Policy Institute says BLAME ILLINOIS EXODUS ON JOBS, HOUSING, TAX POLICY
Illinois lost more than 850,000 residents to other states during the past decade, causing the state’s population to shrink for six consecutive years and suffer the largest raw decline of any state in the 2010s.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data released June 25, the white population shrank by 5.3{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1}, or 438,986 people, and the Black population declined by 1.7{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1}, or 32,143, since 2010.
Feed the Public Pensions
Illinois needs higher taxes to feed its broken pension system.
Illinois is the “least friendly” total state and local tax burden for the middle class, according to personal finance site Kiplinger.
It has the largest raw population decline over the past decade, with the high state and local tax burden the most common reason residents say they want to leave.
Illinois is Pension Crisis Ground Zero
For discussion of the plight of Illinois and all such states beholden to public unions, please see Illinois Is Ground Zero for the Pension Crisis
Symptom vs the Problem
The pension crisis is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem.
The true problem is decades of corrupt politicians getting in bed with corrupt public unions.
Dead on Arrival
Given that Republicans held the US Senate, a state bailout and Biden’s Progressive Agenda is Dead on Arrival in January.
Time is running out for Illinois.
Mish
