Compare New York, which has lots of state and city income tax, with Texas, which has no state income tax. In 1970, New York had 18 million people. Today, 40 years later, 19 million people — not very much growth. Texas in 1970 had 11 million people. Now it has 24 million. Most people didn’t anticipate this shift in 1970. They thought, 'Well, you can throw any amount of taxes on there. It won’t make much difference because people have to be in New York, and they won’t like Texas because it’s hot there in the summer.' Not only did they fail to understand economic incentives, they failed to understand air conditioners."
Michael Barone, principal editor of the Almanac of American Politics
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