Nathan Jensen, a professor a the University of Texas, Austin, explains to readers of the New York Times that corporate incentives are simply political theater. We’ve made the same point, but it cannot be repeated often enough. “If Amazon chooses Atlanta, politicians will point to all that they have done to attract it,” Jensen writes. “But in fact it is most likely the quality of the work force that will be the deciding factor for Amazon, not the billions in incentives.” As North Carolina learned again when Toyota and Mazda chose to locate in Alabama instead, you can offer billions in incentives and still lose.