I have a column on Tech Central Station today that for the most part states the obvious (though you'd never know it from media reports): The states that are most losing manufacturing and tech jobs are also -- and not by coincidence -- the states that have the least business-friendly tax and regulatory policies.

Jonathan Dresner - 2/10/2004

I read the column, and it seemed to me that there were some interesting clusters, an awful lot of missing data, and no hint of a question as to whether the indices (ranked surveys, not metric scores) of regulatory and tax policy were meaningful.

Not to mention the narrow econometric view of the universe that sees "good for business" as synonymous with "good for people" and therefore can't consider the question of whether the problem is with the "unfriendly" states or with the "too friendly" states.