[garyhope]

So, the national unemployment rate is a very low UNDER 5%, like 4.7 and THE BEAST COULD NOT CREATE ANY JOBS?

New York city is functioning and prosperous, but the rest of NY is a mess. NY state and local taxes are outrageous and confiscatory. No wonder there is little job creation there.

[jude24]

NY state and local taxes are outrageous and confiscatory. No wonder there is little job creation there.

Taxes are a symptom, not the cause.

The real problem is that we're still stuck with an antiquated government structure. It's not unheard of for a person to be covered by 9 jurisdictions, each with the independant ability to levy taxes (Federal, State, County, Town, Village, sewer and water district, fire district, school district, and one I can't recall). That's a lot of bureaucracy - and bureuacracy gets particularly expensive when you give each executive the power to appoint employees. There's a lot of places the executive can stuff political patronage employees.

Then you consider that Upstate NY has an aging infrastructure and governmental structure that was built for a larger population.

Then add into the fact that benefits are exploding across the US, though NY seems to spend more per capita than any other state in the union.

With all these factors, its no wonder taxes are high.