The Free State Project is an effort to get 20,000 pro-liberty activists to move to a single state where they will work towards reducing government to a maximum role of protecting life, liberty and property. It has been five years since the FSP membership selected New Hampshire out of a field of 10 low population states. Since then the growth of the project has been less spectacular than many were hoping, but activists are continuing to move into the state and as someone who was living in New Hampshire prior to the vote I can say that there has been a real impact.

New Hampshire remains the only state in the union not to have a law requiring adults to wear a seat belt. A bill proposing a seat belt law was narrowly defeated, and in my opinion it would have passed without the influx of Free Staters. New Hampshire was one of the first states to opt out of the Real ID program, thanks to a large rally at the state house and an intense lobbying effort. There have been a number of other successes worth mentioning, but I’ll save that for a later article.

Many libertarians who have heard of the Free State Project say that it’s a good idea, but they seem to find some reason why they can’t move. A common objection is that the weather is too cold, but there’s nothing anyone can do to change that. The other concern that keeps people from moving is whether there are enough jobs. The fact of the matter is that New Hampshire probably has one of the strongest job markets in the United States.

Forbes magazine looked at 141communities with populations between 65,000 and 188,000 to see which local economies were the least and most vulnerable to recession. Three New Hampshire towns made the list of the ten least vulnerable to recession. Lebanon came in as the least vulnerable to recession, while my hometown of Keene came in third least vulnerable and the state capital, Concord, came in as seventh least vulnerable. Not bad for a state with a population of 1.3 million.

The state has a fairly dynamic economy despite its small population. Lebanon and Keene are college towns so that helps insulate them from economic downturns, but in the case of Keene there is also a mix of retail, manufacturing, and office jobs. Retail stores draw in a great deal of business from out of state because New Hampshire has no general sales tax and many office jobs are attracted because the state has no personal income tax. There are plenty of regulations that need to be done away with in New Hampshire, but compared to other states, New Hampshire’s economy benefits from low taxes & regulations.

If you’re looking for liberty & prosperity then come to New Hampshire.