The Hartford Courant published a commentary piece by Yankee Institute Deputy Director Heath Fahle on Sunday, August 25, touting both the strengths and weaknesses of life in Connecticut. The takeaway? It’s a great place to live… if you can afford it. Poor public policies artificially drive up the cost of living in Connecticut and reduce the economic opportunities necessary to afford to live in the state.
From art to culture, entertainment, sports, nature and history, Connecticut offers a quality of life that is unmatched by almost any other state. Indeed, a recent ranking of quality of life by the Social Science Research Council named Connecticut’s the best in the nation. But recent evidence leaves little doubt that the economic opportunities necessary to enjoy this quality of life are disappearing.
The Yankee Institute routinely points out the List of Lasts, the rankings in which Connecticut is at the bottom of the barrel in comparison to all other states. With taxes and pension debts rising, policymakers must do more to get the state back on top.
In the commentary piece, Fahle describes some of those solutions. They include remedies on transportation policy, energy policy, and reducing the state’s tax and spending burden.
Unlike many of the state’s advantages, the ills are not intrinsic. History and common sense suggest that the state’s problems are unintended consequences of poor public policy that can be fixed.
Read the full piece at the Hartford Courant.
