American in Paris

What Went Wrong with California, New York, and New Jersey?

Hi Kurt,

How do you expect to be taken seriously when you don't even provide any statistics on the relative tax burderns of different states? It is not a compelling argument.

You also seem to be un aware many people, including myself, regard the quality of life to be much higher in those high tax European states, many of which out-performing the US. Germany is the largest exporter in the world and had a balanced budget before the recession hit. The US has not had a trade surplus in the last thirty years ...

I pity those poor overweight Americans eating their Wonder bread, taking their two weeks of vacation each year, and living in their suburban ranch houses.

What Went Wrong with California, New York, and New Jersey?

You mean like Texas. :)


On Jun 28 10:19 AM swaps wrote:

> I agree that illegal immigration was likely a factor in the collapse
> of all three states.
> An inflow of cheap labor that depressed wages and took away jobs
> from native born resulted in a host of programs having to be funded
> to cope with the problems created in housing, health care and education.
> The problems ranged from higher education and welfare costs to lower
> per-capita tax revenue due to lower wages.
> I an infer that last phrase without having to look for data to back
> it up. It is a logical consequence.