Migration of Wealth in New Jersey

Over the weekend we flagged a report about how after New Jersey imposed a "millionaire's tax" in 2004, fewer wealthy households arrived in the state and more left. Now the Wall Street Journal's news department -- that's right, Rupert Murdch's Wall Street Journal, not the New York Times -- is protesting that analysis with a blog item headlined "Don't Blame Higher Taxes for Loss of New Jersey's Rich." The Journal's evidence? "A Census Bureau survey of wealthy New Jerseyans found their top reason for leaving, by far, was a new job offer." It doesn't seem to have occurred to the Journal reporter that the reason job offers were coming from other states is that the other states -- the ones creating those jobs that are good enough to lure away the high-income New Jerseyans -- had lower taxes.