February 2012, Volume 30, Issue 3

A number of states are reportedly contemplating major reductions in their personal income taxes, or even outright elimination of the tax. One group of experts argues that states with lower tax rates have experienced stronger economic growth, while another challenges those findings. Reports suspects that economic growth over the period in question had more to do with state reliance on specific industries that were doing well (e.g., natural resources, the federal government) or poorly (e.g., automobiles) than it had to do with tax policy.