The Next States to Get Hammered by the Blue State Model
A perfectly reasonable way to read this chart is to note the high correlation between state taxation and regulatory intensity and states that are gaining or losing population
Unfortunately, my experience in Arizona (one of the "inbound" states above) has been that people have zero ability to correlate specific elements of public policy with particular outcomes. In particular, people who flee California because it is too expensive and dysfunctional come to Arizona and immediately begin voting for exactly the same policies that made California expensive and dysfunctional. Therefore, I tend to read being in an "inbound" state with dread, knowing that folks are moving in right now to make us the next Illinois or California.
