New Mexico: Rich State or Poor State?

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a national group of conservative and market-oriented legislators, has released a new report called “Rich States, Poor States,” which studies and ranks the 50 states based on various measures of economic freedom that the authors believe — and evidence shows — generate economic growth. Those authors, by the way include Arthur Laffer, former Reagan Administration economist, and Stephen Moore who resides on the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, along with Jonathan Williams of ALEC.

Not surprisingly, New Mexico does not perform especially well with a “ALEC-Laffer State Economic Outlook Ranking” of 39th. Also contained in the paper are — and more important for policymakers, are the “10 Golden Rules of Effective Taxation.” This document is a must-read for policymakers along with our own “Economic Roadmap for New Mexico.”

The Rio Grande Foundation will be hosting Jonathan Williams of ALEC, one of the study’s authors, at an event this fall.