Time for a Policy Check?

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

December 9, 2024

If you don’t think businesses exist in a ever-changing world, I offer the following for your consideration. Look at the top 20 companies in the world from just a couple of years ago (based on Market Cap) and you’ll see companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Tencent, Tesla, Alibaba, Visa, JPMorganChase, Walmart, Samsung, Mastercard, and others.

Thirty years earlier, the list of top companies in the world was dominated by Japanese firms, and only Exxon, General Electric, IBM, Phillip Morris, and Merck were the U.S. based companies on that list. None of the companies from 30 years ago even make the top 20 list of today. Things can change very quickly.

Things move very quickly, and the pace of change is accelerating every year. To remain competitive, it makes sense for us to take measure of public policies that were created a few years, or even decades ago, and ask ourselves if they’re still relevant in 2025. We spend a lot of time thinking about new policies, but never enough, in my estimation, on existing laws and regulations.

News You Can Use

The November NFIB optimism index is released tomorrow, while results from the November consumer price index are shared Wednesday morning. On Thursday, we’ll see the producer price index and its November results, and we wrap up on Friday with import index data from November.

Toll Brothers and Oracle lead off the week of companies with earnings calls, followed on Tuesday by AutoZone, United Natural Foods, GameStop, and Stitch Fix. Wednesday’s headliner is Adobe and they’re joined by Nordson and Oxford Industries. Broadcom and Costco Wholesale are among the few others with calls later this week.

Michael J. Quaranta

President

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce

Uniquely Delaware

Tax Foundation | Tax Competitiveness Affects Net Migration

The Tax Foundation examined the relationship between tax competitiveness and interstate migration patterns. They have observed a strong positive relationship between states with well-structured tax codes and those experiencing net inbound migration. The correlation between tax competitiveness and net migration has been particularly strong since the pandemic (see the figure below).

Improving a state’s tax competitiveness—and consequently its position on the Index—does not automatically result in increased net migration. However, recent data suggest that tax competitiveness plays a significant role in residents’ relocation decisions. A well-structured tax code can be considered a prerequisite for making a state more attractive to both individuals and businesses. Read more >

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