A tale of two states: Indiana v. Illinois
Indiana is one of America’s most economically-free states. It also embraced “right to work” in 2012.
Illinois is relatively un-free (although not as bad as New Mexico). It is also not “right to work.”
Our friends at the Illinois Policy Institute put together the following chart to illustrate how manufacturing is thriving in Indiana but not in neighboring Illinois. Is this entirely due to Indiana having “right to work?” Maybe not, but it is definitely part of the reason and it certainly hasn’t hurt (perhaps there’s a lesson for New Mexico?):
