Missouri ranks 17th for best economy

Missouri has the country's 17th best economy, according to a state economic competitiveness ranking released by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The report from ALEC, which bills itself as the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership organization of state legislators, ranks the economic competitiveness of each state.

Missouri's low business and property taxes and lack of an inheritance tax placed the state high in those rankings.

According to the authors, Missouri ranks in the middle compared to most states on many of the other criteria, including minimum wage, workers' compensation costs, and the size of government. However, areas for needed improvement include lowering personal and sales taxes and improving the tort liability system.

"There is still a lot that we need to do to attract business, investment and jobs to our state and this new report will certainly help us identify areas of concern," Missouri Rep. Ed Emery, ALEC's Missouri State Chairman, said in a statement.

The rankings relied on 16 policy criteria, including personal and corporate taxes, tax burdens, a state minimum wage and the quality of the state's legal system.

Utah's economy was ranked the best followed by Arizona and South Dakota. Vermont was last.

"The historical evidence is clear: states that keep spending and taxes low exhibit the best economic results, while states that follow the tax-and-spend path lag far behind," Jonathan Williams, Director of ALEC's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force, said in a statement.

The report's official title is Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index.