Economic Development: Euphemism for Corporate Welfare?
It has become common practice for states and local governments to hand out massive amounts of tax breaks, free buildings, and other "incentives" to entice corporations to locate there or even just to stick around. Taxpayers also end up on the hook for building lavish new sports stadiums to benefit team owners who are billionaires and have primary business interests outside of their ownership of a team. And in a growing trend, Hollywood studios are getting all kinds of "deals" to shoot movies in various locations. All of it is typically done in the name of "creating jobs" or "growing the economy".
All of these bribes incentives cost the taxpayers massive amounts of money, either in direct payouts or lost tax revenue. So where exactly do you draw the line between economic development that's in the public interest and corporate welfare that only serves to funnel public money to private businesses? Do such incentives actually serve to create jobs? And who really benefits? These crucial questions are the subject of "United States of Subsidies", an investigative reporting series running this week in the New York Times.
The author of the series, Louise Story (a fitting name for a journalist if there ever was one), appeared for an interview on NPR's Fresh Air.
All of these bribes incentives cost the taxpayers massive amounts of money, either in direct payouts or lost tax revenue. So where exactly do you draw the line between economic development that's in the public interest and corporate welfare that only serves to funnel public money to private businesses? Do such incentives actually serve to create jobs? And who really benefits? These crucial questions are the subject of "United States of Subsidies", an investigative reporting series running this week in the New York Times.
The author of the series, Louise Story (a fitting name for a journalist if there ever was one), appeared for an interview on NPR's Fresh Air.