Americans for Prosperity Foundation is proud to offer our selection of reports on issues critical to understanding government policies effecting the state and the effects these policies have on the economy.  These studies are the product of extensive research by some of the best minds in the field of government policy.

America Drops In Economic Freedom Ranking

The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal recently released the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom and the news for the U.S. is not good. For the first time, America has fallen from the elite "free" level to the second tier of "mostly free" nations.

The Index defines "economic freedom" as the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property." Societies that are economically free have "governments [that] allow labor, capital and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself."

The Index of Economic Freedom "measure[s] ten components of economic freedom, assigning a grade in each using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. The ten component scores are then averaged to give an overall economic freedom score for each country."

Click here to read the full report.

Migration of Wealth in New Jersey and the Impact on Wealth and Philanthropy

Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy recently released a study showing that from 2004 through 2008, $70 billion in wealth left New Jersey, while the state’s charitable capacity declined by $1.13 billion.

The study was commissioned by the Community Foundation of New Jersey and the Enterprise Trust at the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce and looked at New Jersey’s household wealth migration over the past decade, from 1999 through 2008. The study focused on wealth as opposed to income because wealthy households are the most charitable segment of our communities.

Wealth began to leave New Jersey around the time when a series of changes to the state’s tax structure made it less competitive for charitable families compared to neighboring states. New Jersey’s state income taxes have risen to levels above New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and there is not a deduction on state income taxes for charitable giving.

Click here to read the full report.

Applying the Lessons of State Health Reform

National Center for Policy Analysis
Why are health insurance premiums so high in New Jersey? One rea­son is that state regulations require insurers to sell policies to all appli­cants, including people who wait until they become sick to buy coverage (so-called guaranteed issue). Another reason is that the state keeps insur­ers from adjusting their premiums to reflect the health risks of individual consumers (called community rating). As a result, the young and healthy are charged more for insurance than they would be otherwise in order to subsidize the premiums of others. Click here to read full report

Insitutions Matter: Can New Jersey Reverse Course?
Mercatus Center
The government of New Jersey has resorted to fiscal evasion—avoiding the rules meant to constrain spending and has sustained spending growth through fiscal illusion, obscuring the full costs of policies by relying on intergovernmental aid and debt to achieve the current level of spending. The state has long emphasized current spending at the expense of higher taxes for future taxpayers. The costs of this approach are now coming due. Click here for full report.

Dollars and Sense: Understanding the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Role in Education and Housing
Federalist Society

The State of New Jersey has experienced increasing economic difficulties in recent years. Its state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation, totaling 11.8% of the average taxpayer’s income,  and the Tax Foundation ranked New Jersey’s business tax climate as the most inhospitable in the nation in 2009.  The state’s economic growth in terms of real GDP has stagnated. 

Deteriorating economic conditions in the state may have caused New Jersey to begin losing two of its most important assets: its businesses and its residents.  According to a Rutgers University study, between 2002 and 2006, the state lost 231,565 people.  This decrease in population resulted in a cumulative income loss of $7.9 billion between 2000 and 2005.  According to other surveys, only ten percent of New Jerseyans were satisfied with the way their state and local governments operated in 2008,  and forty-nine percent of residents expressed a desire to leave the state in 2007.  Twenty-eight percent of residents wishing to move cited high property taxes as their most pressing concern. Click here to read full report.

The Economic Impact of Federal Spending on State Economic Performance: A New Jersey Perspective
Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics

One of the cornerstones of good economic analysis is the realization that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.”  Yet when it comes to federal money for the states, this fundamental truth is generally lost.  Most people equate federal dollars as manna from heaven – a free meal that should be enjoyed for as long, and often, as possible.  The reaction to the governors that questioned the efficacy of the recent stimulus package is simply the latest example of this mistaken belief.

New Jersey Tax Rankings
Tax Foundation

New Jersey ranks 50th in the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

New Jersey's Corporate Income Tax System 
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

New Jersey Sales Tax above National Median; Cigarette Tax Second-Highest in Nation 
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

New Jersey Property Taxes: Highest Per Capita in the Nation
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html

Additional Resources

CATO Institute
http://www.cato.org/
The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. The Institute will use the most effective means to originate, advocate, promote, and disseminate applicable policy proposals that create free, open, and civil societies in the United States and throughout the world.

Manhattan Institute
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/
For over 30 years, the Manhattan Institute has been an important force in shaping American political culture and developing ideas that foster economic choice and individual responsibility. We have supported and publicized research on our era's most challenging public policy issues: taxes, health care, energy, the legal system, policing, crime, homeland security, urban life, education, race, culture, and many others. Our work has won new respect for market-oriented policies and helped make reform a reality.

Rich States, Poor States:  ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index

http://www.alec.org/am/pdf/tax/09RSPS/26969_REPORT_full.pdf