Blog

State business climates matter, drive interstate economic competition

Last week I posted on the flawed Good Jobs First study purporting to demonstrate that business climate rankings are worthless, ideological exercises. My column today debunks the charge that the studies are bunk. I encourage you to read it and share your thoughts with me. It’s nonsense to argue that there’s nothing to be gained […]

What we've learned about Boeing, multipliers and the state economy

With the governor committed to seeing the 777X built here (stories in the Seattle Times and Everett Herald) I thought it worthwhile to link to some of our previous work related to Boeing’s impact on the economy. In 2009 we produced an economic impact report, What If Boeing Left Washington. Some findings: Since each Boeing […]

Competitiveness key to landing Boeing 777X: Inslee announces aerospace strategy

Gov. Jay Inslee has joined the competitiveness battle, a high stakes bid to assure that the Boeing 777X is built here. The Seattle Times writes: Gov. Jay Inslee proposes funding a new cargo facility at the Port of Everett, extending Boeing’s tax breaks and streamlining the local permitting process in Everett as part of a […]

Site Selection magazine's Top 10 Competitive States. TX #1, WA not among them.

Another magazine business climate ranking, using a different methodology than the Chief Executive survey I linked to earlier today. Site Selection ranks the states based on a formula that includes new and expanded facilities, capital investment, jobs created, tax policy (using the Tax Foundation tax climate report), the Beacon Hill Institute’s business climate index, and […]

WA ranks No. 36 in Chief Executive magazine business climate survey

Washington does not fare well in the latest business climate survey conducted by Chief Executive magazine. The state comes in No. 36, between Maine and Rhode Island. The top ten are unsurprising: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Arizona, Virginia, South Carolina, Nevada and Georgia. At the bottom of the list are Illinois, New York […]

U.S. Senate passes Internet sales tax bill, still big hurdle in the House

On a strong bipartisan vote, 69-27, the U.S. Senate yesterday passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, or what most of us just call a bill requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes. Mashable has a short, clear explanation of the legislation and why it’s necessary. So does the National Conference of State Legislatures, which strongly supported […]

States should pay attention to business climate studies, because costs matter

Good Jobs First, a left-leaning nonprofit, attracted a lot of attention this week with a new study claiming business climate studies are …politicized grab-bags of data. They have no predictive value and should not be used to inform public policies. Some of the attention came from one of the groups they criticized, the Beacon Hill […]

Washington gets generally high marks in new U.S. Chamber report, lags in "talent pipeline"

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its annual report on states’ economic and policy performance, with a special focus on small business. The 2013 Enterprising States report provides a lot of good, well-documented information for business owners and policymakers. We’ve written about it before before. As the state did last year, Washington shows up well. […]

Tax bill passes House

Yesterday the House passed the Houses finance committee’s tax bill (ESHB 2038) with one amendment, which concerned section 401. (My previous posts on this bill are here and here.) As it passed the House finance committee, section 401 of the bill eliminated the sales tax exemption for goods (other than motor vehicles, boats and trailer […]

A reminder: Washington leads the nation in liquor taxes

Beer drinkers may have caught a break when the House Finance Committee nixed higher beer taxes, but liquor drinkers get no such love. Here’s the Tax Foundation’s map of liquor excise taxes. Note Washington and Oregon come in #1 and #2. And then note the spread.