11-10-2010, 07:05 PM
Pastor:
I believe I found the Boston College study you were referring to. A few points:
- The 2004 tax increase in New Jersey was a 2.6 percent tax hike for people earning $500K or more per year.
- The $70 billion in wealth leaving New Jersey from 2004-2008 refers to all residents who left the state, not just high earners who were subject to the tax increase.
- The $70 billion figure refers to total wealth, not income. Income seems like a more relevant metric, since we\'re talking about an income tax.
- The Boston College study makes no mention of the tax hike and certainly does not claim that $70 billion in wealth left New Jersey as a result of the tax hike. Correlation is not causation.
A bit of Googling also led me to a Princeton study that does look at the impact of the 2004 tax hike in New Jersey.
It states that:
- The number of people earning $500K or more in New Jersey rose from 26,000 in 2002 to 42,000 in 2006.
- Roughly 350 households earning $500K or more either moved out of New Jersey or did not move into New Jersey as a result of the tax hike, resulting in a loss to the state, strictly from these 350 households, of about $38 million per year.
- Despite the $38 million in lost revenue, the tax increase generated a total of about $895 million per year in new revenue.
I believe I found the Boston College study you were referring to. A few points:
- The 2004 tax increase in New Jersey was a 2.6 percent tax hike for people earning $500K or more per year.
- The $70 billion in wealth leaving New Jersey from 2004-2008 refers to all residents who left the state, not just high earners who were subject to the tax increase.
- The $70 billion figure refers to total wealth, not income. Income seems like a more relevant metric, since we\'re talking about an income tax.
- The Boston College study makes no mention of the tax hike and certainly does not claim that $70 billion in wealth left New Jersey as a result of the tax hike. Correlation is not causation.
A bit of Googling also led me to a Princeton study that does look at the impact of the 2004 tax hike in New Jersey.
It states that:
- The number of people earning $500K or more in New Jersey rose from 26,000 in 2002 to 42,000 in 2006.
- Roughly 350 households earning $500K or more either moved out of New Jersey or did not move into New Jersey as a result of the tax hike, resulting in a loss to the state, strictly from these 350 households, of about $38 million per year.
- Despite the $38 million in lost revenue, the tax increase generated a total of about $895 million per year in new revenue.