The Connecticut-New York Border War

(WSJ) — Hedge funds may be the all-purpose villains of Washington and Albany, but it seems a few politicians still like having them around as taxpayers. Among them is Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, a Republican who usually doesn’t mind higher taxes but who has nonetheless declared a tax-competition border war amid the New York Assembly’s bid “to vastly increase the tax liability of hedge fund professionals who work in New York.”

That’s how Mrs. Rell put it in a letter last week to the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable, imploring its members to relocate to her state and offering to do “anything possible to assist you,” including the aid of state “relocation specialists.” She added that “short-sighted decisions have long-term consequences. That understanding is the hallmark of good decision-making in any business.”

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