Iowa falls in the middle of the pack with the 27th best economic outlook. It's never too early for legislators to start considering how to remove barriers to businesses and consumers resuming "normal" activity.
The coronavirus economic shutdown crushed many businesses and sent millions into unemployment. An article on the website Issues & Insights says economic policy will help some state economies bounce back faster than others:
Considering how economically competitive states widely outperformed high-tax states coming out of the Great Recession, state policymakers looking to capitalize on economic reopening should consider ways to make their state more competitive relative to their peers.
First, competitive states avoid passing tax increases during temporary budget shortfalls resulting from an economic downturn. While the revenue might help fix a budget gap in the short term, those tax increases often become permanent and dampen economic growth, discourage business in-migration, and erode tax bases in the long term.
Competitive states also avoid excessive taxes on capital, like personal income taxes and business taxes.
Using the Rich States, Poor States Index, the top five states in economic outlook are Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Indiana, and North Carolina. The least competitive states are California, Illinois, New Jersey, Vermont, and New York.
Iowa falls in the middle of the pack with the 27th best economic outlook.
It's never too early for legislators to start considering how to remove barriers to businesses and consumers resuming "normal" activity.
