Amity Shlaes - Governors Compete

Amity Shlaes

Governors in the U.S. don’t usually brawl, but this year seems to be the exception. When Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proudly scheduled a two-day sales-tax holiday for his citizens this month, just in time for back-to-school shopping, Governor John Lynch of New Hampshire punched back with a reminder that New Hampshire levies no sales tax at all. To rub it in, Governor Lynch travelled to Baron’s Major Brands, an appliance retailer located practically within inches of the Massachusetts state line. Citizens of Massachusetts, Lynch bellowed over the border, ought to remember that “in New Hampshire, every day is a sales-tax holiday.” A similar contest rages between Governor David Paterson of New York and Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell. The New York State legislature had a plan to treat any carried interest earned by hedge-fund employees who commute into the state as income, subject to the state’s high income-tax rates. Read more here:

Amity Shlaes - Governors Compete