At least we're ahead of New Jersey

Tax rankings are always a sensitive issue since statistics are always open to interpretation. During an afternoon news conference, Governor Pawlenty said Minnesota is 49th in the latest report from the small business and entrepreneurship council's business tax index. South Dakota is first. New Jersey is last. Is this group's tax rating fair?

I don't know about "fair," but I do know that it's pretty meaningless. How many Fortune 500 companies claim South Dakota as home? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Location decisions are, like most purchase decisions, about much more than price (which is what taxation is). People pay more for an iPhone (a lot more) because they get value from it. Businesses locate in Minnesota and pay more for it because we have a better-educated workforce, better infrastructure, and higher quality-of-life elements...they get more value from it.