The secret to succeeding in the new economy might be a "poor legal climate."

Today, I came across an interesting study about how well states are positioned to succeed in the new economy:

The 2007 State New Economy Index, released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), is a state-by-state analysis of how state economies are transforming from an old industrial economic model based on "smokestack chasing" in which economic development success is measured by the number of big company relocations rather than in the creation and retention of high value-added, high-wage jobs.

2007 State New Economy Index

The New Economy Index was developed by the Kauffman Foundation, which is one of the larger charitable foundations in America; it's not a "front group."

Just for fun, I thought I'd compare this study with the "study" put out by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.  That study purports to rank the legal climate of every state.  According to the Chamber, a healthy legal climate is essential to a healthy business climate.  If that statement is true, the Chamber must have a flawed definition of what a healthy legal climate is.

Here are the top five states in the New Economy study compared to the Chamber's ranking:

 

And now, here are the Chamber's top five states compared to the New Economy ranking:

 

Technorati Tags: New Economy, Chamber of Commerce, legal climate, tort reform