Milton Friedman used far fewer words than I to express the importance of this noble notion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A

MAK, Bly, and others are attempting to proceed in the right direction, but they allowed the energy monopolies to construct the legislation. They are trying act as those “angels” foolishly believing they are wiser than the individuals and business interests willing to unleash time, blood, and treasure, to the problems facing us. What we need is to tear down the walls blocking progress and deny these powerful (pun intended) organizations of their clearly selfish self-interest at the expense of society. Stop protecting the monopoly and the market will flourish with unbridled activity.

When I hear some candidate making sense, I’ll get behind them and push. Meanwhile, when I hear rhetoric that comes straight out of a Marxist textbook, I will fight it with all the energy these fingers can muster!

Here’s information on what Rep. David Bly proposed:
http://sustainablecommunitysolutions.com/2008/03/04/rep-blys-feed-in-tariff-legislation-gets-first-hearing/

Here’s more:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=216B.1612

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37516039/

How about 31st on the list! It’s “Workforce” analysis brought us in at #34! The study cited, in part, the tendency towards collective bargaining.

Don’t shoot the messenger folks. I’m just sayin’……

Your example is instructive, though. Some operations (call centers and similar) don’t require the same specialized skills and physical location to transportation and resources that certain manufacturing does — and did even more a few decades ago. This makes them more portable and able to take advantage of lower labor rates, cheap land and low taxes or bribes. Again, not the only reasons to relocate.

Changes in interstate banking rules and repeal of Glass Steagull probably had a bigger impact in that industry.

It is safe to argue that MN’s tax policy towards business has played a role in the last 30 years. Perhaps a valid measure would be to evaluate the US business community as a whole, and MN as a part, to see if MN has enjoyed the same or similar fate as the rest of the country. Sounds like another weekend project!

This is not a critique of your explanation, which I appreciate. It’s a caution to readers who may run with it in an unproven direction.

I worked for Honeywell in the late seventies through the late eighties and retained them as an annual report client for a couple years after the Allied-Signal “merger,” when the corporate HQ moved to New Jersey, another high tax state. I can’t recall hearing a substantive comment about taxes, let alone state taxes, when I interviewed corporate and divisional leaders about their financial results.

I could go into a number of reasons why Honeywell’s manufacturing plants are not as extensive here as they once were, including divestiture of the computer, semi-conductor and defense businesses, the labor costs in other countries (Mexico, China, etc.), acquisition of companies with facilities in other states, and a global market that favored local production over exporting from the U.S.

I’d say 3M, another global company, operated under many of the same forces. For example, magnetic media for data storage is a dead industry today.

Norwest and Northwest, like Honeywell, moved headquarters from here because of mergers, but their operations remain here. Since two of the three are headquartered in high-tax states, it hardly supports the tax argument.

Your point is well taken. A “study” would have to measure a company’s motivation for expanding a plant in Sioux Falls over a plant in Minnesota. The study would also have to examine every incident since 1981. This would be very difficult to accomplish accurately.

Memory serves me well when it comes to remembering the vast manufacturing facilities of Honeywell–gone today. And the loss of Northwest Air to Delta. The various 3M plants–gone today. Norwest headquarters–gone. Union membership is down–not because they are less popular, but because the jobs are gone. The franchise tax plays a role, but your questioning as to whether it is ‘the reason’ is a matter for debate.

It is fair to say that the franchise tax contributed to the attrition, but perhaps is only a partial reason. Thailand has taken loads of jobs out of Minnesota. And the federal tax may be playing a more significant role than MN’s franchise tax.