A related and revealing statistic: Economic output in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states fell below that of six big southern states (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) in 2021, and the gap is only getting wider. Not coincidentally, the population in those southern states is expanding.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has highlighted all this in a new presentation called “Urban Economies on the Precipice: A Tale of Six Cities.”

If the title sounds ominous, that’s the point. Even before Thursday’s news from Beacon Hill, the business-backed group was arguing that taxes aren’t the only issue the state needs to tackle.