North Carolina authorities like to tout surveys about how business-friendly the state is.
I haven’t heard much about a new survey by a website called Thumbtack and the Kauffman Foundation, as mentioned in The Economist magazine.
The state’s overall rating was a C-plus. Most of its individual grades were above average, but not sterling.
It’s not surprising the Tar Heel State would do better than business nightmares such as California, New York and Illinois. Perhaps ominously, it lags behind its closest neighbors — and competitors. Virginia won an A-plus, Tennessee an A, Georgia an A, and South Carolina a B-plus.
It’s important not to take some of these studies too seriously; “business friendliness” is hard to quantify, after all. But it is a timely reminder that for all its fine qualities, and recent reforms to the tax code, North Carolina still has a ways to go before it is a national leader in the race for greater economic growth.
Leave a Comment