Tax Policy and Stimulating Behavior

Tax policy is often used to stimulate behaviors and activities which are generally seen as positive; mortgage interest deductions and home ownership and tax breaks for business development are two of many examples. However, sometimes tax policies have impacts which would not seem to be intended. For example, it appears that individuals have been leaving New York for other states due to high taxes there.

Now, it could be that some people are moving from the Empire State to Florida because of the sunshine. However, the article at the link above notes that overall populations seem to be migrating from high-tax states to low-tax states nationwide, a fact that would seem unlikely to be based purely on winter temperatures...