Facing election-year pressure from voters and flush with federal cash, governors across America have signed three times more billion-dollar subsidy deals than any previous year in history. September 15, 2022 – An unprecedented flood of economic development “megadeals” with potential billon-dollar price tags across the United States is turning 2022 into a uniquely expensive year … Continue reading 2022 Is the Worst Year in History for State Corporate Welfare Megadeals
Article in City Journal: Back to Basics for NYC
New York City's economic development model was already out of date even before the pandemic accelerated the broad move away from the workforce model of big offices in big buildings filled with lots of well-paid people working at expensive desks. That hadn't been keeping the city's leaders from doubling down on expensive subsidies, though, writes … Continue reading Article in City Journal: Back to Basics for NYC
Buffalo News column: Keep emotions out of Buffalo’s soccer stadium debates
While Buffalo's soccer fans might be passionate for the sport and excited about the potential for a new professional team in the city, they should be careful not to let that passion be used by business and political leaders to justify public subsidies for a stadium that would be a bad deal for the community. … Continue reading Buffalo News column: Keep emotions out of Buffalo’s soccer stadium debates
Albany Times-Union column: NY needs new leadership to lure businesses to the state
New York's Empire State Development Corporation is beginning a search for a new CEO, and as the CEA's John Mozena writes in the Albany Times-Union, it's "an opportunity for New York to end its participation in the nationwide economic development race to the bottom." Obviously, simply putting a more forward-looking individual in the CEO's chair … Continue reading Albany Times-Union column: NY needs new leadership to lure businesses to the state
Detroit News op-ed: Amazon retreats from NYC subsidies
CEA President John C. Mozena writes in the Detroit News: "Companies don’t walk away from billions of dollars in free money very often. Amazon’s willingness to do so by giving up on its proposed “HQ2” facility in New York City is the best example to date of how quickly these deals fall apart when the … Continue reading Detroit News op-ed: Amazon retreats from NYC subsidies