In my efforts to promote economic liberty, I usually focus on real-world evidence.
Sometimes this means looking at one policy (Norway’s wealth tax, for instance) and examining what happened (lots of rich people moving to Switzerland).
But often it means looking at overall economic freedom and considering the consequences. Sometimes globally.
- That’s the purpose of my anti-convergence club.
- That’s the purpose of my never-answered question.
And sometimes domestically.
- That’s the purpose of my red state vs. blue state columns.
- That’s the purpose of my Texas vs. Californian columns.
- That’s the purpose of my Florida vs. New York columns.
Today’s column is going to add to the analysis of Florida and New York.
In previous columns, I have focused on how Florida is taxing less and growing faster
(those two factors are related, of course).
Florida also attracts more people and creates more jobs.
And it has a much smaller burden of government spending.
At the risk of repeating myself, all of the good economic policies are the reason why Florida enjoys better economic results.
Florida’s superior outcomes have become so pronounced that even establishment journalists have begun to notice.
Here are some excerpts from Fareed Zakaria’s latest column in the Washington Post.
New York, where I live, and Florida, where I often visit, provide an interesting contrast. …They have comparable populations — New York with about 20 million people, Florida with 23 million. But New York state’s budget is more than double that of Florida ($239 billion vs. roughly $116 billion).
New York City, which is a little more than three times the size of Miami-Dade County, has a budget of more than $100 billion, which is nearly 10 times that of Miami-Dade.
New York City’s spending grew from 2012 to 2019 by 40 percent, four times the rate of inflation. Does any New Yorker feel that they got 40 percent better services during that time? …New York’s poverty rate is higher than Florida’s.
New York has a slightly lower rate of homeownership and a much higher rate of homelessness. Despite spending more than twice as much on education per student, New York has educational outcomes — graduation rates, eighth-grade test scores — that are roughly the same as Florida’s. …
The ultimate test, of course, is how people are voting with their feet. For years, New York has been losing people to states such as Florida. This same story can be told with minor variations about California and Texas. Basically, big red states are growing at the expense of big blue states…if Democrats do not learn some hard lessons from the poor governance in many blue cities and states, they will be seen as defending cultural elites, woke ideology and bloated, inefficient government.
Keep in mind that Zakaria is not a libertarian or conservative. In recent years, I’ve criticized him for supporting a value-added tax, supporting more centralization in Europe, and supporting bigger government.
He’s not a crazy Bernie Sanders-style leftist, either. Instead, I see him as an avatar for establishment thinking.
And that’s what makes his latest column worth citing. When someone like him writes a damning indictment of New York statism and lauds Florida’s laissez-faire approach, that’s a sign that we are making progress.
P.S. In Zakaria’s defense, he has defended free trade and opposed protectionism.
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