Laboratories of democracy: Disparities between the 50 states

This year’s Economic Freedom of North America 2014 (EFNA) report shows that, once again, while we are the United States, our states have bigger differences than climate, seasons and terrain. The levels of economic freedom, and thus economic opportunity, vary widely across the 50 states, as do the levels of economic prosperity.

In the three most-free states (Texas, South Dakota, and North Dakota) average personal income is about 20 percent higher than in the three least-free states (Maine, Vermont, and Mississippi) — approximately $48,000 versus $40,000. And, the unemployment rate is more than 7 percent in Rhode Island (45th) versus about 4 percent in nearby New Hampshire (5th).