December 29, 2025 – A decade-long subsidy package for a Compass Datacenters project in Meridian, Mississippi has been selected as the nation’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” for 2025 by The Center for Economic Accountability. The Texas-based data center construction firm plans to build a campus containing eight single-tenant data centers in Lauderdale County on … Continue reading Mississippi Data Center Project Named 2025’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by The Center for Economic Accountability
New Report: Corporate Social Irresponsibility
The responsible investing movement should join the fight against corporate welfare. That's the argument made by a new report authored by CEA President John C. Mozena and Richard Morrison, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The report, "Corporate Social Irresponsibility: After ESG, activist investors should side with taxpayers" was published by CEI on July … Continue reading New Report: Corporate Social Irresponsibility
The Supreme Court’s Big “Kelo” Mistake Was Trusting Economic Development Plans
By John C. Mozena One of the most famous injustices ever perpetrated in the name of “economic development” happened 20 years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the city of New London, Conn. to use its eminent domain powers to seize Susette and Tim Kelo’s ‘little pink house’ to make way for private real … Continue reading The Supreme Court’s Big “Kelo” Mistake Was Trusting Economic Development Plans
Charlotte’s Football Stadium Renovations Named 2024’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by The Center for Economic Accountability
December 30, 2024 – The Center for Economic Accountability has given its “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year Award” for 2024 to Charlotte, N.C.’s city government for its deal to spend $650 million of public funds on renovations to Bank of America Stadium. The privately owned stadium is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers … Continue reading Charlotte’s Football Stadium Renovations Named 2024’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by The Center for Economic Accountability
Cato Daily Podcast: The State-Run Corporate Handouts That Help Politicians and Harm Taxpayers
On the Cato Daily Podcast this week, CEA President John Mozena, Cato Institute Senior Fellow and Cato Daily Podcast host Caleb O. Brown discussed the ways that state and local economic development subsidies are more focused on Election Day 'job creation' for the politicians who control them than they are on any actual economic factors … Continue reading Cato Daily Podcast: The State-Run Corporate Handouts That Help Politicians and Harm Taxpayers