Media Coverage:
The Center Square: Ford pauses $3.5B electric vehicle plant despite $1.7B subsidy
Crain’s Detroit Business: The Midwest fell behind in the race for EVs. Now, it’s mounting a comeback.
The Center Square: Taxpayers help pick up the tab for Mississippi’s first Buc-ee’s
The Center Square: Amazon Web Services plans to build two data centers in Louisa County
Reuters: DeSantis chose wrong Disney battle, right war
The Center Square: Economic development grants selected
WNCN-TV (Raleigh, NC): Automaker comes to NC; these 3 big names also chose us
The Center Square: Michigan gives $6M to Bill Gates-backed company
MLIve: Billions given to EV projects better spent on roads, bridges, cutting taxes, critic says
The Black Chronicle: Grant increases, building constructions approved by development department
National Review: Ohio’s Long-Running Corporate-Welfare Farce Takes Another Absurd Turn
Daily Caller: Politicians from both parties are selling “sidewalk socialism.” It needs to end.
The Iowa Torch: Reynolds’ international trade trip draws criticism
The Center Square: Why is now the time for electric vehicles?
Nevada Independent: Give voters the final say on baseball stadium subsidies
American City Business Journals: Billion-dollar incentive deals are rising, but one new study finds the spending ‘irrelevant’
Detroit Metro Times: Economists warn of Detroit Grand Prix’s financial risks to taxpayers
Reason: States Spend Billions on Economic Development Deals With Little Return
The Tennessee Star: Report: U.S. economic development departments pay big money for few gains
The Comeback: Athletics relocation hits huge roadblock; MLB world reacts
Crain’s Detroit Business: Ford’s $3.5 billion EV battery plant moves forward after Marshall vote
Now Habersham: Kemp announces DNR, Rivian partnership during event at Tallulah Gorge
The Center Square: Developers seek $123M from taxpayers for Grand Rapids project
The Center Square: Strategic fund approves $16.6M to support local projects
The National Herald: Senate Passes Deputy Leader Gianaris’ Ban on Secret Deals
The Center Square: Ford expects $3B loss on electric vehicles in 2023
Crain’s Detroit Business: On right-to-work, and economic development, Michigan must choose top-down or bottom-up
National Review: Losing Amazon’s HQ2 Was a Blessing
Atlanta Business Chronicle: What to know about the progress of Rivian’s Georgia plant
The Washington Post: Amazon says it is pausing construction at HQ2 in Arlington
The Center Square: Michigan starts $34M EV campaign; 25,181 registered statewide
The Center Square: Surprise $750M ask for Ford site prep confounds Michigan lawmakers
The Center Square: Tennessee spent $81M on site development grants since 2016
Big Rapids Pioneer: Big Rapids Township request review of Gotion battery plant, international risks it may attract
Crain’s Detroit Business: Michigan approves $1 billion in incentives for Ford EV battery plant
The Center Square: Michigan OKs $1B subsidy for $3.5B Ford plant
Bridge Michigan: Ford battery plant in Michigan rose from the state’s failure in 2021
Huron Daily Tribune: Big Rapids Township to host special meeting on battery factory
The Center Square: Economic development deals hinge on timing and information, observers say
The Center Square: Virginia dives deeper into the cold, dark world of data center subsidies
Atlanta Business Chronicle: Residents opposed to Rivian’s plant file lawsuits against state, Morgan County
The Center Square: West Virginia House committee approves portion of $290M in battery-plant incentives
Washington Examiner: Economic experts weigh Youngkin’s decision to halt Ford plant
Washington Post: Amazon launches $35 billion data center expansion in Virginia
Atlanta Business Chronicle: Report: Rivian executives depart from company
WDRB-TV (Louisville): Louisville was promised more than a soccer stadium in Butchertown. Where’s the rest?
Daily Yonder: Report: Rural Small Business Owners Feel Uncertain About Future
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Senate committee endorses narrow reforms for development authorities
Uncover DC: Anti-Rivian Residents Stand Strong as Gov. Kemp Touts GA as Nation’s EV Hub
Morgan County Citizen: Rivian named ‘Worst Economic Development Deal’ of 2022 by national economic watchdog group
The Georgia Virtue: Nonprofit names $1.5B Georgia Rivian EV plant incentive as worst deal of the year
Atlanta Business Chronicle: Rivian’s tax incentives from Georgia named worst economic development deal of the year
The Center Square: Form Energy to build facility in West Virginia steel town
National Review: It’s Time to Call Out America’s Corporate Welfare State
The Center Square: Legislature approval of $85M for QLine trolley elicits negative responses
Autobody News: Michigan’s Latest $526M Tax Incentive Harshly Criticized
WJR-AM: Mackinac on Michigan ~ Midterms Preview Edition
The Problem with Jon Stewart: How To Protect Your Community From Corporate Interests
The Center Square: Tennessee Titans stadium plan to be vetted by stadium committee on Oct. 26
Newport Plain Talk: Nashville announces plans for new Tennessee Titans stadium that will be mostly paid for by taxpayers
Bridge Michigan: Michigan gas prices are up again. Here is why.
Reason: Ohio Pledges Over $150 Million in Taxpayer Money for Honda Factories
Bridge Michigan: Michigan’s future: No flying cars, but plenty of corporate welfare
Bridge Michigan: Michigan lands two more EV battery plants, bringing up to 4,000 jobs
The Center Square: Michigan election software CEO charged with theft of poll-worker data, storing it in China
Atlanta Business Chronicle: State, local economic development officials assessing legal options after Rivian plant ruling
Crain’s Detroit Business: How Michigan aims to protect its $1 billion bet on EV battery plants
Kentucky Today: Do ‘incentives’ subsidize job creation or reelection campaigns?
Automotive News: China EV tech seen as critical, but tax breaks raise questions for Michigan
Atchison Globe: Kelly touts Goodyear Tire plant project that’s getting thousands in tax incentives
The Mountaineer: North Carolina highlighted in report on skyrocketing corporate subsidies
Tennessee Conservative: Large economic incentives like those in Tennessee increasing exponentially
American City Business Journals: Population migration, Goldman Sachs HQ: The National Observer Sept. 13, 2022
American City Business Journals: What shifting migration patterns mean for small businesses
Quad-City Times: Time for tax credit reform
The Center Square: Iowa will spend $16 million of ARPA funds on tourism projects
Illinois News Network: Coalition wants to end some NDAs
Kansas City Star: NDAs bar Kansas lawmakers from speaking about Panasonic factory details for years
Greensboro News & Record: Our Opinion: High-stakes poker at the speed of sound
News & Observer (Raleigh, NC): How NC nearly lost and ultimately beat out Florida for Boom Supersonic
The Center Square: Billionaire’s project gets $100M from Michigan taxpayers
Reason: Crony Capitalism Is Apparently Business-Friendly
Iosco County News-Herald: Analyst: $251M 2023 ‘economic development’ in Michigan’s won’t address taxpayer priorities
WDRB-TV (Louisville): ‘NOTHING LIKE THIS IN THE COUNTRY’
The Center Square: Detroit City Council again delays vote on $60M tax break
Crain’s Detroit Business: As new business-expansion fund runs lower, Michigan eyes permanent way to pay for it
The Center Square: Whitmer touts job numbers while analyst criticizes corporate welfare
News Is My Business: The web is specialized in deep dig investigation
Crain’s Detroit Business: Real Estate Insider: Detroit City Council member wants DEGC to ‘educate’ residents on benefits
Site Selection: “It’s Not Like They Need the Money”
The Center Square: Reynolds announces $20M Iowa Downtown Housing Grant program despite uncertainty in real estate market
The Hill: End the secrecy and misinformation in economic development
Fayetteville Observer: NC bets big with taxpayer money to land major projects, but are they good investments?
Fast Company: How companies like Amazon and Facebook fleece communities out of billions
The Center Square: Michigan electric vehicle battery plant receives $189M state subsidy
The Center Square: Analyst: GM, MEDC aim to fool taxpayers with bait and switch
Washington Times: Taxpayers line up to be sacked by the Washington Commanders
Grosse Pointe Times: Grosse Pointe Farms approves Black History Month proclamation
Baseball Prospectus: MLB’s Lockout Makes Stadium Subsidies Even Worse Deals Than Before
Detroit News: Why GM’s $824 million subsidy exemplifies unnecessary spending
Los Angeles Daily News: SoFi Stadium deal sweetens Rams victory
Mac Observer: How Much Does Apple Receive in Subsidies From U.S. States?
The Hill: Frustrated by a corporate handout ‘Groundhog Day’? Blame the American Rescue Plan
Detroit Metro Times: $21 million concert venue planned in Lansing
Michigan Public Radio: General Motors investing $7 billion in Michigan facilities to build electric vehicles
Triangle Business Journal: Workforce development, shovel-ready sites and more: NC commerce secretary on how state can keep its economy strong
Iosco County News-Herald: Whitmer celebrates last month’s addition of 11,000 jobs in Michigan
Cities 92.9-FM: Measure would ban non-disclosure agreements in Illinois economic development deals
WNCN-TV (Raleigh, NC): Was the NC’s deal with Apple ‘a really big win?’ Or the worst of the year?
Washington Examiner: Report: North Carolina-Apple agreement ‘worst economic deal’ of the year
Triangle Business Journal: North Carolina’s $846M package to bring Apple to RTP labeled worst economic development deal of 2021
WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC): Bad Apple: Report calls deal for new NC campus ‘worst’ of the year – here’s why
24/7 Wall Street: What’s Up With Apple: Spending on Streaming Content, Trouble in Korea, and More
Carolina Journal: N.C.’s Apple deal named worst of 2021
The Center Square: Governor signs $1 billion bipartisan SOAR economic development package
Iosco County News-Herald: Michigan House passes economic development incentive package
The Center Square: Bipartisan bills aims to restore tax incentives for business development
Crain’s Detroit Business: Does downtown need residential pivot?
Nevada Tribune: Nevada offers 16 businesses $46 million in tax abatements
The Center Square: Analyst claims Michigan picking winners and losers in EV race
Washington Examiner: Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded tax break to company that created one job
KOAT-TV (Albuquerque): Ten other USL cities have recently built stadiums
Michigan Star: Gov. Whitmer Calls on Lawmakers to Boost Michigan Economic Development Corporation Funding
The Center Square: Free-market think tank president: ‘simply no evidence’ Iowa grants ‘are anything but useless’
Corp! Magazine: Experts: FCA Expansion Shows How Tax Incentives Can Pay Off
Des Moines Register: Time should be up for Iowa’s slate of terrible tax credits
Bangor Daily News: A different fiscal fix for state, local governments
St. Paul Pioneer-Press: Here’s a better fiscal fix for state and local governments
Crain’s Detroit Business: Michigan lawmakers may give The Mid developers a lifeline on brownfield tax credit
The Center Square: Critics question Gov. Whitmer’s $1.3 million spending on Holland private sector jobs
The Center Square: Michigan Strategic Fund to subsidize Traverse City housing; critics question need
City Journal: Back to Basics
RealClear Policy: Federal COVID Relief Imposes Truce in States’ Corporate Welfare Wars
Detroit News: How economic development is killing Michigan school funding
Newsweek: This Last-Minute Provision Blocks GOP Govs from Using Stimulus Money to Subsidize Tax Cuts
TaxNotes: Federal COVID-19 Relief Law Could Prevent New State Tax Incentives
The Center Square: Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak unveils ‘innovation zone’ legislation that would let tech companies establish their own local governments
WDRB-TV (Louisville): Aluminum company pleads for more time to build Ky. plant
The Hill: How your taxes subsidize the Super Bowl — and how that might change
The Center Square: Group calls on governor, legislature to end Texas Enterprise Fund, cut taxes instead
The Center Square: Whitmer pocket vetoes Meijer tax break, property tax deferment for hard hit businesses; Industry leaders want answers
Crain’s Detroit Business: Foxconn shows tax credits, subsidies are costly error
Liberty for Patriots: Michigan subsidizing private businesses with taxpayer money during budget crunch
The American Conservative: Want To Clean Up Money In Politics? Start With Corporate Welfare
Las Vegas Review-Journal: 2020 is no time for subsidies in Nevada
Providence Journal: Subsidizing a soccer stadium would be a bad bet for Pawtucket
WFMJ-TV (Youngstown, OH): GM Lordstown clawback deal gets mixed reaction
The Center Square: Ohio, General Motors reach deal on failed tax incentives in Lordstown
The Center Square: Two businesses moving to Fort Worth with $2.58 million in tax incentives
KPVI-TV: Texas tax incentive program has limits, supporters, critics
Newsday: A different fiscal fix for state, local governments
The Center Square: Business Facilities ranks Texas first for business, critics argue incentives hurt taxpayers the most
The Hill: Congress could use bailouts to solve the interstate subsidy war
FOX28 (Spokane): Better Cities Project, think tanks propose plan for getting Americans back to work
Kiowa County Press: $5.5 million in tax incentives used to attract new company to Colorado
WDRB-TV (Louisville): Hotel subsidies could add to Louisville’s budget problems
Crain’s Cleveland Business: Subsidy deals like Sherwin-Williams’ won’t grow Cleveland’s economy
The Center Square: ‘Struggling’ Detroit announces opening of new arts and culture office
WDRB-TV (Louisville): Cash-strapped Kentucky spends more on job subsidies than border states
The Detroit News: Detroiters pay too much for economic development deals
The Center Square: Gov. Whitmer’s State of the State: ‘Impatience is a virtue’
The Center Square: Legislators restore $575 mil of Gov. Whitmer’s $947 mil budget vetoes, Pure Michigan program among biggest losers
Buffalo News: Keep emotions out of Buffalo’s soccer stadium debates
The Detroit News: Tax Credits Don’t Change Business Realities
Michigan Advance: One data center tax break bill clears committee, others stall
The Hill: States: Stop subsidizing these 3 dumb things
The Center Square: No-fault auto insurance reforms face legal hurdles
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Public subsidies for sports venues like Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse just aren’t worth it
Marc Cox Morning Show: Is the new soccer team an economically sound move for St. Louis?
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Emotion defeats common sense in St. Louis’s MLS stadium deal
Des Moines Register: Iowans deserve tax credit transparency
Michigan Advance: Rural SW Michigan project scores $30M tax incentive
Globe Gazette: Mason City’s Gatehouse deal: Lucrative, risky, necessary?
Albany Times-Union: NY needs new leadership to lure businesses to the state
Crain’s Chicago Business: Economic development deals risk ruining Chicago
Michigan Advance: State and Detroit officials approve Fiat Chrysler deals
The Center Square: $150,000 in tax incentive for two Loveland businesses criticized
Fortune: Data Sheet—Amazon’s Cloud Service Goes After Oracle
BisNow: Amazon Inks Massive Operations Center Lease At Nashville Yards
The Guardian: Amazon faces new headache as Nashville deal enrages locals left and right
The Tennessean: Nashville didn’t need to make a deal with Amazon
Crain’s Detroit Business: Money for roads hidden by corporate tax breaks
Indianapolis Star: Indy’s proposed soccer stadium deal unfriendly to taxpayers
Detroit News: Amazon retreats from NYC subsidies
The Center Square: Colorado Springs City Council set to approve millions in tax incentives to sporting goods retailer
Detroit News: Michigan can’t afford bipartisan corporate welfare
The Des Moines Register: It’s time to total the bill for Iowa’s tax credit spending spree
The Oakland Press: Demand honesty on state’s economic development subsidies
Detroit News: Development incentives don’t benefit communities
Billings Gazette: Economic development programs are failures
Blogs, Podcasts, Reports & More
Daily Signal: 4 Ways Washington’s Spending Spree Caused Inflation With Trillions in Waste, Fraud
Heritage Foundation: The Road to Inflation: How an Unprecedented Federal Spending Spree Created Economic Turmoil
Maine Policy Institute: Gov. Mills’ refurbished corporate welfare program won’t help Maine’s economy
Let People Prosper Podcast: How Corporate Welfare DISRUPTS Economies & PROBLEM With “Sidewalk Socialism”
Mackinac Center for Public Policy: Policy Forum: Can Michigan Buy Its Way to Growth?
Cato Daily Podcast: Big Taxpayer Bucks for Buc‐ee’s
Southwest Public Policy Institute: SPPI-TV Ep.7: Corporate Welfare – Make it Stop!
Kansas Policy Institute: Kansas’s $1 billion Panasonic handout part of $100 billion in subsidies nationwide
State Policy Network: Week in Review, May 12, 2003
Impact (Mackinac Center for Public Policy): Mackinac Center Addresses Corporate Welfare Deal in Big Rapids
Stop the Marshall Megasite: The Center for Economic Accountability criticizes subsidies for Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park
The Overlook Podcast: McCormick Field | Play Ball!
ITR Live Podcast: Sidewalk Socialism
Cato Daily Podcast: 2022’s Big State Subsidy Binge
National Auto Dealers Association: Georgia’s Rivian Plant Subsidy Recognized as 2022’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by the Center for Economic Accountability
Field of Schemes: Billionaires all over get cash for their stadiums and arenas and car plants and movie shoots (I got a rock)
Detroit Regional Chamber: This Week In Government: Senate Moves Child Care Expansion Bills Closer To Governor’s Desk; Bills Extended Tax Abatement For Biz Contested By Both Dems, Reps
Boondoggle Substack: 3 Ways Congress Could End the State Subsidy Wars
Field of Schemes: Plague of minor-league soccer stadium subsidy demands reaches pandemic proportions
Better Cities Project: Sports Stadium Subsidies: Fair or Foul?
International Liberty: Stadium Subsidies, Reverse Redistribution, and Cronyism
Field of Schemes: Possible VA locations for $3B Commanders project revealed, Tulsa mulls USL stadium on race massacre site, and more!
Giving Ventures Podcast: Freer Cities (Blog post here.)
Field of Schemes: VA proposes spending a damn billion dollars on Commanders stadium, all other news pales in comparison
State Policy Network: WEEK IN REVIEW: MAY 13, 2022
Rotary Club of Grosse Pointe: Presenter John C. Mozena
Public Seminar: A Year of Wasted Opportunity
The Dish (Keith Law): Stick to Baseball
Detroit Regional Chamber: Oct. 1 | This Week in Government: Gov. Signs Budget; Debate Begins Over Good Jobs for Michigan-Style Incentive
Archbridge Podcast: A Deep Dive on State and Local Development with John Mozena
Daily Detroit Podcast: Why incentives don’t work (and what to do instead) ft. John Mozena
John Locke Foundation: Corporate Welfare Blowout: Gov. Cooper Pledged $1.3 Billion to Just 58 Corporations in 2021
The Political Orphanage: Stadium Subsidies Are Unfathomably Stupid
MIRSNews.com: MIRS Monday Podcast Nov.8, 2021
Cato Daily Podcast: The Broad Coalitions That Stop Corporate Welfare
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) blog: A Great Week at the Great Lakes Tax and Economic Policy Academy
Freedom’s Champion (Atlas Network): Reflections of Two Executives of Nascent Think Tanks
Free the People: Economic Development Subsidies are “Job Creation” for Central Planners
Nobody Expects the Dismal Science: Our Crony Capitalism Fighting Friend – Economic Development Incentives Ft John Mozena
Better Cities Project: Economic Development During COVID-19
Atlas Network: Building a Think Tank From the Ground Up
State Policy Network: Growing Iowa’s Fields of Opportunity
Cornell University ILR: Economic Development on Common Ground: Two Bipartisan State Policies for Defunding Low Road Infrastructure
Better Cities Project: Getting Back to Work – Economic Development
Center for the Study of Liberty: Ideas at Work with John Mozena: $70 Billion
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) blog: Great Success at the Great Lakes Policy Academy
America’s Future Foundation blog: Bad Ideas and Bad Deals in Economic Development Incentives
The Maine Wire (Maine Heritage Policy Center): Portland should put people at the heart of economic development
TEF Iowa blog: Understanding the societal cost of runaway tax credits
Cato Daily Podcast: When Sweetheart Economic Development Deals Fail
Cato Daily Podcast: The Big Numbers Behind Economic Development Freebies
Neoliberal Podcast: Bad Incentives ft. John Mozena (direct link here)
Daily Detroit Podcast: Is Detroit’s Subsidized Comeback Worth It?