[National Review] Relocation, relocation, relocation
Springtime migrations aren’t just for birds. Last week, ExxonMobil, a Fortune 10 company, decided to leave its longtime corporate domicile of high-tax New Jersey for business-friendly Texas.
There goes the neighborhood.
For decades, a handful of states such as Delaware, with its hospitable corporate law, and California, Illinois, and New York, with their capital resources, held too strong a grip on the American corporate engine. These states have too often treated successful businesses as ATMs to underwrite the steep costs of progressive governance. But businesses are now increasingly confronting the reality: High taxes and heavy regulation in left-wing states are harming innovation, growth, and the economic prospects of the people who live there.
As a result, we are now witnessing a historic migration, as some of America’s most iconic companies pack their bags and head for the heartland. Companies such as Chevron and Caterpillar didn’t leave their historic homes on a whim. Chevron was incorporated in California for 145 years before moving to Houston. Caterpillar was a mainstay of the Illinois economy for nearly a century before decamping to a Dallas suburb. These companies — combined with ExxonMobil — account for roughly $1.41 trillion in market cap flowing from high-tax states into Texas and other states that have set out to create business-friendly environments. |