Michigan's population dips below 10 Million

As the Blogprof notes, Michigan's population has declined below 10 million He shows an excellent illustration of the break down of those leaving the state and those who remain, and its not a pretty picture and a nasty portent for the future of this state.

Michigan's population drops below 10M

Economic woes continued to force thousands of Michiganians to leave the state, leading the overall population to drop below 10 million for the first time since 2000, according to population estimates released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The July 1, 2009, population estimate shows the state lost an estimated 32,759 people, the fourth consecutive year the population fell. Only Maine and Rhode Island saw their population go down in the last year.

Michigan has been bleeding people since 2005, and at the heart of the decline has been the growing exodus of people moving out looking for work. The current estimate puts Michigan's population at 9,969,727, down from 10,002,486 in 2008. The state has seen a net loss of more than a half-million people to other states since 2001 -- a number that swamps the natural increase from a greater number of births than deaths.

I wonder what could be causing this exodus - hmm, perhaps its that People flee state's taxing policies The Detroit News:

For years, the Mackinac Center has warned state officials that residents are fleeing for friendlier economic climates. They're going to opportunity states, where taxes and regulation typically fall lighter on the backs of business and families.

Michigan could reverse this trend by lowering the cost of living, working and investing in Michigan. If you lower the price of nearly any good, more of it will be demanded in the market -- and vice versa.

Unfortunately, Lansing's careerist politicians have served the system and their own interests, and people in part are voting with their feet against this.

Among the price hikes our political class have imposed during the past seven years are a sneaky property tax shift hike; an 11.5 percent increase in the personal income tax; a 75-cents-per-pack cigarette tax increase; a complex business tax with a further 22 percent surcharge that extracts an extra $600 million annually from enterprises choosing to remain or locate here; several new occupational licensure, regulation and fee regimes; expensive renewable energy mandates and more.

To add insult to economic injury, various members of the political class have proposed even more tax increases, including a job-killing $6.5 billion graduated income tax. Just the existence of such proposals can have the effect of driving people away if they rationally perceive a chance that such a thing might become law.

It's not just the auto industry, people have been leaving this state before the present one-state depression, and the only thing that may slow the exit rate is the rest of the country is heading in the same direction due to Obamanomics.

Michigan's leaders need to make this a low-tax, business friendly state or the decline will not be turned around. Hey, tax credits for the film industry worked, now how about tax cuts for business and the rest of us to get this state moving?