The Kansas Experiment

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/magazine/the-kansas-experiment.html?_r=0

by lfowles • 11 years ago

35 40 11 years ago

Artistry1216• 11 years ago

Kansas is a beautiful state but like most of the middle of the country its population spread, lack of "entrepreneurship-role-models" in most communities and talent flight hurt its chances of developing strong business culture even in an easy-to-do business environment.

I grew up in KC, MO and went to school on the state line. Many of the most promising students from my school and other schools would go out of state for college - and most that left haven't come back yet.

The fact that Denver, Kansas City, MO and Omaha all flank the state and contain more developed business centers also makes company development unlikely.

Looking at this shows how little concentration there is of companies in the whole mid-to-upper Midwest section.

http://www.geolounge.com/fortune-500-list-by-state-for-2015/

I wonder what has made Minnesota so successful.

abrowne• 11 years ago

The fact that Denver, Kansas City, MO and Omaha all flank the state and contain more developed business centers also makes company development unlikely.
I wonder what has made Minnesota so successful.

These are related. Between Chicago and Seattle, for major metro areas, there's basically just Minneapolis.

(Disclosure: Minneapolitan)

kcmarshall2• 11 years ago

Here's a nice example of a regional success story from MN. The area around Winona (a town on the Mississippi river between the Twin Cities and Rochester) has a growing cluster of businesses that work with composites. http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/08/07/composites-winona

Kansas wants this kind of development but doesn't want to put priority on environmental protection, outdoor recreation or the arts. All are important to the Winona story - as is the presence of a state university in the town.

I'm an 'expat' Kansan who now lives in MN so I have a deep appreciation for the difference between the two.

knieveltech• 11 years ago

Would someone in tune with the fiscally conservative mindset be willing to offer an explanation for the apparent fascination with cutting taxes and downsizing government? Specifically, what are the proposed benefits for the average citizen?

krschultz• 11 years ago

More money in your pocket because your taxes are lower. It generally goes along with not seeing anything in your life that is a benefit from government.

toomuchtodo4• 11 years ago

Do conservatives not use roads, schools, police, fire, healthcare and other services? Taxes pay for civilization.

Artistry1216• 11 years ago

When I took a job in Dallas my hourly rate was less than that of my job in Kansas City, MO. But my take home pay was higher for working the same amount of hours. Why? MO took 7% out of my salary for state taxes.

For a family making $50,000 (simplified) that's worth $3,500/year and everything else in Texas provided by the government seemed equal - the roads were nice, schools were good, crime wasn't noticable... So $3,500 a year for no noted improvement in life? That can help pay for college for children, buy a car or nice new technology, or increase retirement savings or charitable expenditures.

Nicholas_C• 11 years ago

What about cost of living? And Dallas has much higher property taxes from what I've heard.

GFK_of_xmaspast• 11 years ago

The answer is: "Who cares about the average citizen?"

rrss1122• 11 years ago

The proposed benefits for the average citizen are more money in their pockets.

rrmm4• 11 years ago

The legislators' assumption was that lowering the tax rate (eventually to zero) would bring business to the state. Ignoring arguments about the validity and applicability of the Laffer curve, what made them think businesses would want to set up shop there when several other states have the same benefit?

Businesses have to attract talent, and underfunding services and schools doesn't make for an attractive state. It is painful to watch how easily the people in charge slide into believing that one simple solution will fix everything. Even the best of ideas and intentions end badly when taken to an idealogical extreme.

Artistry1216• 11 years ago

Your last sentence can really be true in a lot of circumstances.

The overwhelming note of the article was that even at the end of the day practical concerns did override idealism. Although KS has a long way to go and has some huge disadvantages when compared to other states with no income tax - there is a possibility that a zero income tax policy could help the state.

Lavery• 11 years ago

Without going into whether this belief is well founded (personally I don't think it is), its a combination of two factors: an assumption that there is a pool of potential business owners already in the state who are deterred by higher taxes, and a desire to be like Delaware (or internationally, Ireland), where low taxes and favorable regulatory structure are such that many large, inter-state or multinational corporations headquarter themselves there.

The first point, as you suggested, is pretty questionable. As you pointed out, it's worth noting that the current wave of entrepreneurship has headquartered itself in California, New York, and Massachusetts, some of the highest tax areas in the country.

WalterBright• 11 years ago

There's a tech boom going on in the Seattle area (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Adobe, Boeing, etc.), which has no income tax.

rrmm4• 11 years ago

If they were in a Delaware situation, wouldn't they not get many of the secondary and tertiary benefits of the business? Ie, there would be a shell company there, but not many jobs, and therefore not many people's commerce adding to the state's prosperity?

My understanding was that these benefits were what made this sort of thinking work.

roneesh• 11 years ago

The single minded focus on taxes to recruit businesses strikes me as severely misguided. Sure, found a business here in Kansas where you save on paying high taxes on your business. Pay it all back when your child makes the mistake of enrolling in the University of Kansas system. Perhaps this isn't the specific case in Kansas, maybe the Kansas system has lowered costs, but I have a feeling you pay it back in some form when you finally, in some way start to imbibe on a now underfunded public entity.

success_hawk• 11 years ago

The University of Kansas has one of the lowest tuition prices in the country for a state uni. The problem is the overall education you get from the public schools and that there are very few locations to get job, when comparing pay nationally, with decent pay.

cromulent• 11 years ago

I listened to the Planet Money episode last week (of the same title and subject from last year).

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/22/358105415/episo...

norea-armozel2• 11 years ago

I gave up on my home state barely a year ago. When I graduated from Wichita State there wasn't much in the way of actual software developer jobs in the city or even up north near Topeka. It was fairly depressing to have to accept a job out of state since despite all its flaws it's my home. But since I can't find real work back home and the fact it seems the state Republican party is hell bent to run out any business that doesn't follow its status quo (especially companies who are LGBT friendly/inclusive) I won't be coming back other than to bury my parents.

Maybe someday I'll come back to my home state but only when the madness in the state capital has ran its course and actual competent politicians are at the helm. Until then I'll be working up here in Minneapolis Minnesota (even though I hate the traffic and the winter weather... BLEH!).

The Kansas Experiment

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