Last year, Site Selection Magazine chose Apple’s new R&D campus in North Carolina as one of its “Top Deals of 2021.” That’s the same $846 million subsidy deal that the CEA called the “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year.”
In an effort to dig into the disconnect between the two recognitions, Site Selection Managing Editor Adam Bruns interviewed CEA President John Mozena about what went into our award, what other deals we considered for the recognition and what the future may hold:
Frankly, what’s needed is less transparency and accountability around the economic factors of these deals and more around the political factors. Let’s be honest, they’re not truly economic tools — if they were, then companies that made political donations to the relevant elected officials wouldn’t be four times as likely to get subsidies as those that don’t, and states where governors are running for reelection wouldn’t be twice as likely to see a sudden 20%-plus jump in subsidy deals as those that don’t have an election pending. They’re political tools, because politicians can get a measurable political benefit from voters for claiming to “create jobs.”