Meme gets economics better than politicians

People like to make fun of Floridians, and you can’t blame them. We provide so much ammunition it gave birth to Florida Man.

The internet meme chronicles the bizarre behavior of some of our dimmer bulbs. Among the recent entries was the guy in Jacksonville who broke into a 70-year-old woman’s house, got naked and made some spaghetti.

Then there was the woman who called police to test quality of the meth she’d just bought. And how about the fellow citizen who threw a small alligator into a Wendy’s drive-through window?

Despite the goofballs, alligators, mosquitoes, heat, humidity and Miami Marlins, the desire to become a Florida Man or Woman (by address, anyway) is stronger than ever. A study by economics website 247wallst.com of migration patterns ranked the 50 U.S. metropolitan areas that had the largest net population declines from 2010 to 2017. Florida had zero. That’s not shocking, since people have been flocking south for decades. Warm weather has always been a huge drawing card, but here’s the interesting thing.

California had six cities on the list. The Los Angeles-Long BeachAnaheim area came in No. 2 with a decrease of 93,959 people.

At last report, it was sunny and warm in L.A. So what gives?

It’s a simple truism: People vote with their feet.

Their feet can barely afford sneakers in places like California and New York. New Jersey is probably considering a 34 percent sneaker tax.

The Garden State had four metropolitan areas on the list. So did neighboring New York.

What do sunny California and most Northern states have in common when it comes to migration patterns?

Besides weather, the two main migration factors are the economy and taxes. Forbes rated the worst states for taxes, and guess which ones lead the way?

New York was No. 50, New Jersey was No. 48 and California No. 45.

At the risk of turning this into a Gov. Rick Scott campaign ad, he took office the same year this census study began. He’s cut taxes between $7.5 billion and $10 billion and cut $5.5 billion of state debt.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have our share of problems, led by low wages. But where would you rather live?

If you said California, bring a fat wallet. The median price of a house is $550,990, which is $303,000 more than the national average.

The median rent on a one-bedroom apartment in L.A. is $2,249. You can pay for that with what’s left after California takes 13.3 percent of your income in state taxes.

But fear not, at least California’s building a $98 billion bullet train to nowhere!

New Jersey doesn’t have a bullet train in the works, but Gov. Phil Murphy wants to raise taxes $1.5 billion this year. He wants to tax

marijuana, Uber rides, electronic cigarettes, Airbnb, millionaires.

Somewhere, George Harrison is singing a familiar tune.

New York lost a net 846,669 people between 2011 and 2016, more than any other state. Almost 300,000 moved to Florida.

New Jersey income outflow was $3.5 billion last year. And twothirds of it relocated in Florida.

Somewhere, Gov. Scott is humming “Taxman” and writing Gov. Murphy a thank you note.

And the hits just keep on coming. Under the Trump tax cuts people will no longer be able to write off state and local taxes on their federal income tax. The deduction will now be capped at $10,000 per family.

Economists say that could lead to another 800,000 people fleeing California and New York in the next three years.

Guess where a whole bunch of them will probably move?

It ain’t New Jersey or Illinois or Connecticut or one of the other places the Taxman is so welcome. Yet people who run those states don’t understand a prime reason people are voting with their feet.

The more you tax something, the less economic activity is produced. And economic activity is what attracts people who want to improve their lives.

Even Florida Man is smart enough to figure that one out.