Economic development (page 2)

Public-choice problems are very difficult problems to overcome, even when there is broad agreement across political parties and society that they need to be fixed

In 2016 Georgia granted $667 million in tax credits for film productions. In return, Georgia realized only $65 million in net new revenue, meaning the state self-inflicted a net revenue loss of $602 million.

Performance audits of the administration and economic impact of Georgia's Film Tax Credit ought to put the kibosh on any Tar Heel envy of it. To call it disastrous is insufficient.

That’s Walter Olson’s take on the left’s current campaign to shut down dollar stores. For a full discussion of this latest piece of progressive lunacy, see Unjust Deserts by Steven Malanga: Communities like Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Fort Worth, Birmingham, and Georgia’s DeKalb County have passed restrictions on…

In an otherwise excellent article about the limited impact of targeted tax incentives in North Carolina (already noted by “Locker Room” colleague Jon Sanders), Zachary Eanes of the Raleigh News & Observer offers the following statement: North Carolina, which has repeatedly lowered its corporate tax rate over the…

The research into economic development incentives is clear — and it's consistent with real-time results in North Carolina. What's also clear is that North Carolina needs a broader debate about corporate welfare.

Governments like to use clawbacks, in which they provide a benefit but demand it back if some objective is not reached. North Carolina uses clawbacks for some tax incentives, but could not recover millions of dollars that had been paid to Dell Technologies when that company closed a plant…

Businesses make business decisions for business reasons. If they can get free money from politicians wanting to look good in press releases and photo ops, great, but it's rare that it's a deciding factor.