carolina cronyism

Cross-subsidization, unfair competition, and taxpayers being on the hook for service costs were particularly bad problems leading to the Level Playing Field Law in 2011. But look what HB 431 would do.

Carolina Journal reported that NC went over the $1 billion mark in renewable energy investment tax credits for solar. Here's a tip: something that doesn't cost you much more as consumers but costs you a great deal as taxpayers costs you a great deal, period.

The governor, his administration, and Wake County commissioners' silence on this is very troubling. Public officials cannot conduct themselves as if they aren't accountable to the people, not in a free state.

With five scooter companies applying, does that mean people working, visiting, and enjoying downtown Raleigh will get to choose among five scooter providers? Oh no.

Last week's signing of House Bill 363 was an example of beating back a public-choice problem. That bill frees up craft breweries from the strict 25,00-barrel-per-year cap on self-distribution. This system gave distributors a great deal of power but forced brewers into a tough choice not based on market dynamics: stay small or give up all distribution to a third party.

It's good that the Senate wishes to pare down the film grants. It gets us closer to the best incentives policy.

Years ago I wrote about how "They probably expect you don’t know we didn’t have film incentives until 2005." That's still a problem, as illustrated by a recent WRAL piece discussing about the 1984 film "Firestarter" in the context of film incentives.

Whether jobs are created or destroyed, they always say it's good for 'economic impact,' and media buy it.