Minnesota is best in U.S. For Business in 2015 (Houston: sales, public schools)

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

You guys are funny and I am guessing have never lived outside of MN (or out of your mom's basement)

So have you gotten to the root of that mysterious reluctance of Minnesotans to befriend you yet?

[PCALMike]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

The 10 Worst States in the U.S. for Taxes | The Fiscal Times

I think a more relevant ranking would be how much bang for the buck the residents get from the taxes they do pay. Just look at how badly educated some of those states with low taxes are and how many go bankrupt because they get cancer.

[drishmael]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

"MN has fortune 500 companies that would cost too much to relocate, so instead they lay off hundreds of works at a time (look at Target and Cargill) so MN being a good business state is a joke."

Where are they going go? Tampa? Topeka? Tulsa? Your blighted place of origin (which is ____)? And how did they get here to begin with? I suppose the first of the 3 'M's' originally stood for 'Mississippi' -- they developed an "adhesive" rope that kept your pants above your ass crack (also helped resist the satanic temptations of buggery). Gee, aren't we lucky -- a state full of intellectually addled curmudgeons somehow ended up with nearly twice as many Fortune 500 companies as Colorado, Utah, and North Dakota combined:



And guess what: half of them could abscond tomorrow, and in the long run, it wouldn't make any difference. Other firms would arise in their place owing to a dynamic that individuals of your ideological disposition constantly miss: when you have a highly educated workforce, good public infrastructure, low poverty, and an efficient government and healthcare sector, you get to dictate the terms. The Chamber of Commerce can ****** about taxes until it turns blue, but what UnitedHealth can't do is move its operation to Wyoming, and Wisconsin doesn't have $500 million to invest in the Mayo Clinic.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by drishmael

Where are they going go? Tampa? Topeka? Tulsa? Your blighted place of origin (which is ____)? And how did they get here to begin with? I suppose the first of the 3 'M's' originally stood for 'Mississippi' -- they developed an "adhesive" rope that kept your pants above your ass crack (also helped resist the satanic temptations of buggery). Gee, aren't we lucky -- a state full of intellectually addled curmudgeons somehow ended up with nearly twice as many Fortune 500 companies as Colorado, Utah, and North Dakota combined:

Attachment 153088

And guess what: half of them could abscond tomorrow, and in the long run, it wouldn't make any difference. Other firms would arise in their place owing to a dynamic that individuals of your ideological disposition constantly miss: when you have a highly educated workforce, good public infrastructure, low poverty, and an efficient government and healthcare sector, you get to dictate the terms. The Chamber of Commerce can ****** about taxes until it turns blue, but what UnitedHealth can't do is move its operation to Wyoming, and Wisconsin doesn't have $500 million to invest in the Mayo Clinic.

Jeepers!

[Arne Bjornson]

Minnesota is a fine place for certain types of business. There are many staid corporations operating across a wide variety of dull sectors. The state's Fortune 500 lead the world in pacemakers, breakfast cereal, sandpaper, and spreadable butter products.

[Yosh01]

Today's Strib had an article about this. It made the point that MN is great for very large corporations and very small boutique service oriented businesses. Not so good for everyone in the middle, who pay very high property and income taxes, etc.

The issue is too complex to reduce to "best in the country for business". It all depends on the business.

[Frostbite82]

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

So have you gotten to the root of that mysterious reluctance of Minnesotans to befriend you yet?

Agreed 100%

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

Your "Facts" are 2 years old, bud

At least someone brought facts into this thread instead of opinions and baseless assertions.

[Arne Bjornson]

Originally Posted by Yosh01

Today's Strib had an article about this. It made the point that MN is great for very large corporations and very small boutique service oriented businesses. Not so good for everyone in the middle, who pay very high property and income taxes, etc.

I'll have to read today's Strib, but I'm not sure that follows. The types of businesses in Minnesota are great for risk adverse, middle class manager type people. It is not a great place for entrepreneurs or operating in the 'hot' sectors of the economy like energy, finance and high tech.

[drishmael]

Originally Posted by Yosh01

"Today's Strib had an article about this. It made the point that MN is great for very large corporations and very small boutique service oriented businesses. Not so good for everyone in the middle, who pay very high property and income taxes, etc."

Property taxes as a share of home value are actually lower in Minnesota than in most of the surrounding states: Map: Property Taxes in Your County | Brookings Institution

Minnesota families in the middle three income quintiles ($25,000 - $100,000) pay, on average, a smaller share of their earnings in state and local taxes than the residents of AR, CT, HI, IL, IN, IA, KY, MD, MS, NE, NM, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, WA, and WI: http://www.itep.org/pdf/whopaysreport.pdf

I think a more accurate way of describing Minnesota's current tax regime is that, relative to the national mean, the working class pays less, the middle class pays about the same, and the rich pay more.