Something remarkable has happened here in Mississippi. The state that for most of the last century sat at the bottom of nearly every American economic table has, quietly, pulled ahead of the United Kingdom in GDP per capita. Last week, Governor Tate Reeves highlighted the fact on X/Twitter in his characteristically Southern style - and the tweet went viral.
It is a moment worth pausing over — and worth understanding because what Mississippi has achieved over the past five years is not an accident or down to luck. It is the product of a deliberate, sustained program of free-market reform that few governments successfully deliver. I first noticed that Mississippi was overtaking Britain in terms of output per person back in 2023, and wrote about it for both The Atlantic and The Sunday Times. The reaction from British commentators at the time was a familiar scramble for excuses — purchasing power parity adjustments, Ukraine, Covid — anything, in fact, other than the policy choices Britain itself had been making for thirty years. Now the claim that Mississippi has overtaken the UK is no longer disputed. A new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs last week asked British voters to guess where the UK would rank among America’s fifty states on GDP per capita. On average, they placed their country seventh. In reality, as the report showed, the UK ranks fifty-first — dead last, below every single U.S. state, including Mississippi. More than a quarter of respondents said they felt “shocked” when shown the truth. Alas, facts do not care about British feelings. I am glad Governor Reeves has now put the spotlight on this again. But to me the more interesting question is not how far Britain has fallen. It is how far Mississippi has climbed. For most of the last hundred years, the Magnolia State always seemed to be last. Our per capita income was the lowest in the Union. Serious investment passed us by. But recent years have seen a decisive shift.
In 2021, Mississippi passed meaningful labor market reform, making it easier for people to work, train, and switch careers. In 2022, we replaced an old tax code with flat tax reform - a clear signal that Mississippi had stopped apologizing for letting people keep more of what they earn. Year after year, we have kept our energy among the most affordable in the country — a quiet advantage that every family and every employer benefits from. As other parts of the world that embraced aggressive renewable energy policies grapple with rising costs, Mississippi’s more measured energy approach is looking increasingly wise. In 2024, we passed education funding reform that finally lets the money follow the child, putting more of it into the classroom. In 2025, we took the historic step of passing legislation to eliminate the state income tax altogether — a policy that only a few years earlier had been dismissed as impossible. And in 2026, we have begun cutting through the thicket of red tape that has held back our healthcare sector for too long. No single one of these reforms was enough by itself to turn the state around, but together this package of free-market reforms is enough to lift the trajectory of an entire state. And these reforms compound. Labor market liberalization makes tax reform more potent. Lower taxes make affordable energy more valuable. Better schools raise the human capital on which all of it depends. This is what a real politics of growth looks like — not a single heroic leap, but a steady accumulation of practical wins, year after year. This is why our numbers have moved. It is why they will keep moving. If you want to know why Britain is floundering, imagine what Mississippi might be like if we had had Bernie Sanders in charge for the past twenty years. Taxes there are too high. Regulation is intrusive. Immigration is out of control. Energy costs are sky-high. Britain has been run by a succession of Bernies, and it’s been a disaster. Mississippi shows the alternative. The policies that lifted this state from the bottom of the American table are not secret. They are practical, proven, and available to any government willing to pursue them with the courage and patience they require. The world is starting to notice Mississippi’s success. So should we. Douglas Carswell is the president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and a former member of the British Parliament. Mr. Carswell authored this post.
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16 comments:
This is really nothing to brag about. Since Brexit, the British economy has been in freefall.
Per capita GDP is a very poor way to measure wealth.
Not surprised it is extolled by lackeys and “wealth managers “ and tax dodgers. It implies an equal distribution of wealth that does not exist. High growth benefits only a small percentage of our population. It measures a flow of income, not the accumulation of wealth by the 1% nor our debt levels. But that what you do here. Analyze school teacher pensions and lobby for total exemption of taxes on the rich.
Next I will bet you suggest a Mormon Billionaire who inherited Daddy’s business would be a great Guvnah.
Just like Mitt Romney.
The per capita GDP schtick was over quite a while ago, honestly. It’s just measuring the ability of Mississippi businesses to exploit low wages and keep those illegals around for construction, farming, chicken plants, and cleaning houses in NEJ and Bricktown Madison and bringing in foreign multinationals . Puhleeze.
Good grief.
Britain has been severely weakened, both economically and militarily, by its socialist policies and population shifts due to immigration. The USA is just one election cycle away from going in the same direction, and given the messed up minds of the younger generation it's a safe bet we are headed straight for the same cliff.
Gee. That's great. But what tater and dougie don't say is that Mississippi is still dead last in the US and by a wide margin. Also, they ignore that those liberal bastions of New York and California are double Mississippi.
Would communism be a better choice????
My ancestors left the uk 400 years ago and never looked back! Uk like most of Europe is going broke because of its social programs
What a joke, bragging about being ahead of the Brits. There is a reason many of our ancestors left that shithole and took a chance crossing the ocean.
I agree immigration played a large role in it. Not all immigrants want to assimilate
when your ancestors left 400 years ago, there were no social safety nets at all. A storm destroyed the village? Good luck peasant! A famine deatroyed the potato crop? Good luck peasant? Try to kill a deer to feed your family? Those deer belong to Lord Farquaad! You will be hanged for poaching!
What happened to the UK is happening here. Central bank exploitation. Their social programs are meant to keep the peasants from rising up and killing the Lords of Usury with dull knives and cricket googlies or whatever
"Bricktown Madison" ?? That's "fake stucco Madison" to you buster.
Per capita income in Mississippi is *still* dead last among all states, by a lot. Per capita income in West Virginia was 49th in 2025 and was higher than Mississippi per capita income by more than $3,000.
11:48 “Inherited Daddy’s business” you jackass. It is very well known they didn’t have a pot to piss in and the brothers took that business from the dirt floor to a multi billion dollar company. If you’re jealous that you’ve never signed a paycheck just say so. Loser!
What will happen when Europe starts paying for its own defense? Social programs will have to be cut and lazy Europeans will start screaming!
Sad that the British Empire has come to this. One can only imagine what Churchill would say.
Good news for MS, that should piss a bunch of residents off. Remember, we can’t grow as a state or improve in any manner or the group of angry residents will fire off discontent on X/Twitter.
What some of you say may be true but Britain has done a GREAT job of wrecking itself through its green energy policies. Its energy costs have skyrocketed as they closed off the North Sea to drilling and committed other acts of energy foolishness. As energy costs soar, their industries can't compete. Germany is facing the same problem.
How stupid are their politicians? Norway is drilling the same oil out of the North Sea so England, instead of doing the same, buys it from Norway at a much higher price.
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