I think the idea of states as labs is generally a good thing, but people often misunderstand it. States as labs shouldn't be seen as pilot programs for the whole country, they should be seen as pilots for other states. The US is huge, and a state like Alaska has a very different economy than Rhode Island. However, somewhere like Montana may be able to use some of what worked in Alaska. The advantage of state power is that allows things that are unique to the state to have more influence on policy.
> The advantage of state power is that allows things that are unique to the state to have more influence on policy.
That is also the disadvantage of state power. At least, if you are a person whose life is being controlled by the coercive power of the state government in ways that might be harmful to you.
If you are powerful in the state, of course, it is very good for you to have fewer checks on your own power. It also helps things like arranging elections, like by excluding demographics less likely to vote for you.
As an ongoing exercise it's useful to study over time the number of times the notion of state's rights is invoked in defense of a good idea, a bad idea, or a genuinely disgusting idea. I'm not trying to impose any beliefs on you: feel free to use your own definitions for these things.
My position is that state's rights is invoked so often in defense of bad or disgusting policy in the United States - and frankly, used so infrequently to test genuinely interesting policy in a meaningful way - that it's not a hugely important thing. I feel this is an empirical observation that won't necessarily hold true in all times or places.
When people try to state these things about how government should work purely out of principle, it usually seems pretty unconvincing. We can judge methods of government based on their outcomes to a large extent.
This is a very good point, since Montana is the "Saudi Arabia of Coal."[1] It could work in North Dakota, too, where they're sitting atop the Bakken Oil Formation.[2] And as a Montanan, I would __love__ to see a Montana Permanent Fund.
I think perhaps an even better place to try this would be where I currently live: West Virginia. The oil/coal/natural gas industries account for a significant percentage of the state's economy, yet the people who benefit the most from it are mega-corporations from outside the state. On top of that, most of the people in West Virginia are dirt poor, so a basic income would probably have a huge impact.
