When I recently published Econ 101: A Compass for a Lost Country at The Daily Economy, I aimed to remind Americans—especially policymakers—that prosperity is rooted in simple, timeless truths. Economics isn’t about government programs or political slogans. It’s about human behavior, the way people respond to incentives, and the trade-offs we all face in a world of scarcity. Forget those basics, and you end up with wasted resources, misplaced priorities, and people moving away in search of better opportunities.
Kansas today is a case study in what happens when those truths are ignored.
For over a decade, the state has struggled with stagnant economic growth and an ongoing exodus of residents. Between 2012 and 2022, Kansas experienced a net loss of nearly 100,000 residents to other states. That’s like the city of Lawrence simply disappearing as workers, families, and taxpayers deciding they’d be better off somewhere else. Meanwhile, states that have embraced economic freedom have grown faster. The lesson is straight out of Econ 101: people act with purpose. When the incentives to live, work, and invest are stronger elsewhere, Kansans will respond rationally by packing up and leaving. No amount of political spin can change that reality.
The 2025 Green Book drives this point home. Kansas spends $5,428 per resident, ranking 23rd highest in the nation, and collects $6,326 per person in state and local taxes, ranking 24th. For context, states without an income tax collect 40% less per resident than those with one, yet they grow faster and attract more people. Kansas is doing the opposite: higher burdens, lower growth. In the first quarter of 2025, when the U.S. economy contracted by -0.5% at an annualized rate, Kansas’s economy contracted by -3.3%, placing it 47th in the country, while neighbors like Missouri (-1.8%), Oklahoma (-1.6%), and Colorado (-0.4%) contracted by less.
Another Econ 101 truth is that people dislike uncertainty. Kansas lawmakers passed a tax-cut trigger law that only reduces income tax rates when revenues exceed inflation-adjusted thresholds. On paper, that’s supposed to give taxpayers relief when times are good. In practice, it breeds frustration. Revenues for FY 2025 beat projections by $248 million, yet they still fell $87 million short of the trigger needed to cut rates. The money is there, but Kansans won’t see a dime of relief—because politicians have designed a system that rewards government growth, not taxpayer freedom. That uncertainty discourages families and businesses from planting long-term roots.
Econ 101 also tells us that nothing is free. Kansas has poured hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into economic development incentives. The much-touted Panasonic battery plant in De Soto received an $829 million subsidy through the APEX program. It was billed as a transformational deal, yet EV demand is slowing, and production is already delayed. That’s not growth. It’s a gamble. With YOUR money. And the opportunity cost—the roads not repaired, the tax relief not delivered—is real.
The pattern is the same at the federal level. Washington insists that subsidies and stimulus checks can engineer prosperity. But as I argued in my Econ 101 piece, government spending can’t add to the economy. It only redistributes resources from one pocket to another—or worse, borrows from future generations. With the federal debt now north of $37 trillion, Americans are learning the hard way what happens when deficits and central planning override basic economics.
Back home, Kansans are feeling similar strains. Local government is bloated. The state ranks 48th in residents per local government entity, with only 1,475 people per unit—far fewer than the national average of 8,629. Property taxes have more than doubled in the last 25 years, even though population growth has barely budged. That’s Econ 101 again: government power doesn’t create wealth. It consumes it.
What’s missing in all of this is respect for the fundamentals. People create prosperity—not politicians. Markets coordinate trade, signal value through prices, and unleash entrepreneurship. When government distorts those signals with subsidies, taxes, or regulations, it breaks the very feedback loop that drives innovation. That’s why Kansas’s economy continues to underperform while its residents head for the exits.
Kansas doesn’t need more commissions, gimmicks, or megadeals. It doesn’t need to follow Washington down the rabbit hole of central planning. It needs to remember that economics is not about controlling people—it’s about trusting them. Families and businesses, not government programs, are the true drivers of growth.
The compass is still there. Econ 101 is as relevant as ever. The question is whether Kansas leaders will pick it up—or keep pretending the basics don’t apply. If they don’t, the state will continue to lose people and opportunities. If they do, Kansas can begin to rebuild a foundation for lasting prosperity.
