WHAT THE McDONNELL CASE TELLS US ABOUT GOVERNMENT ‘DEVELOPING’ THE ECONOMY Last week former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was convicted of 11 counts of corruption related to his acceptance of…
ANOTHER IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME AND GONE “Public-private partnerships” with innocuous-sounding names have become extremely popular in South Carolina over the last decade. The latest endeavor in the trend…
THE EX-IM BANK GIVES FOREIGN COMPANIES AN ADVANTAGE, COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER . . . TIME TO LET IT EXPIRE In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution,…
THE SHORT ANSWER: YES, BUT . . . This week on the Senate floor, a member recited two familiar – but no less remarkable – facts: In 2000, South Carolina…
HERE’S WHY WE’RE LOSING: OUR TAXES ARE HIGHER We’ve leveled a lot of criticisms at the South Carolina Department of Commerce over the last several years, and will no doubt…
NOTHING WRONG WITH MYTHS … JUST DON’T REPEAT THEM AS FACT Since the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers have been blasting out emails that boast of the year’s…
Politicians love to tout job creation through business “incentives” — but is there an incentive to take these jobs? Given the dismal unemployment rates both on the national and state levels (8.1…
THEORIES ARE DEBATABLE. REALITY? NOT SO MUCH. When a public official wants to sell a big spending increase, he’ll almost inevitably justify it by claiming that it won’t just create…
WHY TAXPAYERS DESERVE DETAILS – NOT VAGUE TALKING POINTS AND HIGHER TAXES On June 25th, the mayor of Columbia, Steve Benjamin, unveiled what’s being commonly called the “Bull Street Development Deal.” The…
2013 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ‘YEAR OF ETHICS REFORM.’ IT WASN’T. SO DOES ANYONE CARE? At the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session, as the Senate prepared to vote…
HOW STATE FAVORITISM HURTS TAXPAYERS AND DRIVES UP ENERGY PRICES An attempt to loosen South Carolina energy regulation and licensing constraints for the benefit of solar energy firms has gained…
HOW ECONOMIC INCENTIVES COMPROMISE AMERICA’S MOST IMPORTANT VALUE Equality and liberty are not always compatible and in some cases directly opposed, but there is one notion of equality that is…
WHY THE RUSH TO PUT FUTURE TAXPAYERS 120,000,000 MORE DOLLARS INTO DEBT? The news broke this week that Boeing plans to expand its existing North Charleston campus to include an…
It’s the beginning of April and lawmakers‘ two-week furlough is almost up, leaving us at roughly the half-way point of the 2013 legislative session. This was supposed to be the…
WHY KEEP TRYING TO ‘COMPETE’ ON OUR COMPETITORS’ TERMS? For generations, South Carolina lawmakers of both parties have shown an unwavering commitment to the idea that special tax incentives encourage…
…MORE OR LESS. In the 1990s, politicians spoke constantly about “the children” and/or “education.” Now they tend to talk about “jobs,” as if the whole purpose of government were to…
HOW SOUTH CAROLINA FELL INTO GORDON TULLOCK’S “TRANSITIONAL GAINS TRAP” At a recent debate sponsored by the Policy Council on the merits of taxpayer-financed “incentives” – the headline for the…
WHAT IS THAT THING, AND WHY ARE WE PAYING SO MUCH FOR IT? Read Quantifying the Machine, the Policy Council’s report on the costs of economic development, here. For other material…
In South Carolina, 2011 turned out to be a watershed year in at least one respect. For the first time, the merits of government-driven “economic development,” and especially the use…
Film incentives are back in the news. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has pulled the plug on a $420,000 credit for Jersey Shore, a popular but controversial “reality show” that…
It’s easy to criticize the federal government’s attempt to boost economic growth by promoting “green” technology. The idea has a certain superficial charm, and it goes something like this: Since…
Government-driven economic development is a secretive process in which politicians give away tax exemptions, subsidies, and other taxpayer-funded incentives to private companies. Politicians “invest” tax dollars without disclosing any meaningful…
After the headlines, after the press releases and fanfare, where do all these investments go? Some of them go south and take millions of tax dollars with them.
One of the final pieces of legislation that may pass the General Assembly this year is an omnibus economic development bill that provides an array of targeted credits and subsidies…
It goes without saying our political leaders should treat public tax dollars with the same care and consideration they would their own finances. This maxim has never been more necessary…
Getting Politics out of Money
WHAT THE McDONNELL CASE TELLS US ABOUT GOVERNMENT ‘DEVELOPING’ THE ECONOMY Last week former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was convicted of 11 counts of corruption related to his acceptance of…
Nothing New about the New Markets Job Act
ANOTHER IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME AND GONE “Public-private partnerships” with innocuous-sounding names have become extremely popular in South Carolina over the last decade. The latest endeavor in the trend…
The Unseen Costs of the Export-Import Bank
THE EX-IM BANK GIVES FOREIGN COMPANIES AN ADVANTAGE, COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER . . . TIME TO LET IT EXPIRE In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution,…
Should Economic Incentives Be Evaluated?
THE SHORT ANSWER: YES, BUT . . . This week on the Senate floor, a member recited two familiar – but no less remarkable – facts: In 2000, South Carolina…
South Carolina’s Uncompetitive Income Tax
HERE’S WHY WE’RE LOSING: OUR TAXES ARE HIGHER We’ve leveled a lot of criticisms at the South Carolina Department of Commerce over the last several years, and will no doubt…
S.C. Politicians’ Talking Points: Myths vs. Facts
NOTHING WRONG WITH MYTHS … JUST DON’T REPEAT THEM AS FACT Since the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers have been blasting out emails that boast of the year’s…
More “Incentive” for Welfare or Work in S.C.?
Politicians love to tout job creation through business “incentives” — but is there an incentive to take these jobs? Given the dismal unemployment rates both on the national and state levels (8.1…
Beware the Multiplier Effect
THEORIES ARE DEBATABLE. REALITY? NOT SO MUCH. When a public official wants to sell a big spending increase, he’ll almost inevitably justify it by claiming that it won’t just create…
The Bull Street Deal: Extreme Caution Advised
WHY TAXPAYERS DESERVE DETAILS – NOT VAGUE TALKING POINTS AND HIGHER TAXES On June 25th, the mayor of Columbia, Steve Benjamin, unveiled what’s being commonly called the “Bull Street Development Deal.” The…
Bureaucratic Middle Men in State Government
FOR GOVERNMENT, IT TAKES A LOT OF MONEY TO SPEND MONEY South Carolina’s state budget now tops $24 billion – a staggering sum (and just to put that in…
Why Ethics Reform?
2013 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ‘YEAR OF ETHICS REFORM.’ IT WASN’T. SO DOES ANYONE CARE? At the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session, as the Senate prepared to vote…
Renewable Energy: What’s the State’s Role?
HOW STATE FAVORITISM HURTS TAXPAYERS AND DRIVES UP ENERGY PRICES An attempt to loosen South Carolina energy regulation and licensing constraints for the benefit of solar energy firms has gained…
Liberty, Equality … and Corporate Welfare
HOW ECONOMIC INCENTIVES COMPROMISE AMERICA’S MOST IMPORTANT VALUE Equality and liberty are not always compatible and in some cases directly opposed, but there is one notion of equality that is…
Boeing Bond Deal Needs Explanation
WHY THE RUSH TO PUT FUTURE TAXPAYERS 120,000,000 MORE DOLLARS INTO DEBT? The news broke this week that Boeing plans to expand its existing North Charleston campus to include an…
Half Time Ethics Report
It’s the beginning of April and lawmakers‘ two-week furlough is almost up, leaving us at roughly the half-way point of the 2013 legislative session. This was supposed to be the…
Wanted: A New Approach to Economic Development
WHY KEEP TRYING TO ‘COMPETE’ ON OUR COMPETITORS’ TERMS? For generations, South Carolina lawmakers of both parties have shown an unwavering commitment to the idea that special tax incentives encourage…
How to Create 10,000 Jobs
…MORE OR LESS. In the 1990s, politicians spoke constantly about “the children” and/or “education.” Now they tend to talk about “jobs,” as if the whole purpose of government were to…
It’s a Trap!
HOW SOUTH CAROLINA FELL INTO GORDON TULLOCK’S “TRANSITIONAL GAINS TRAP” At a recent debate sponsored by the Policy Council on the merits of taxpayer-financed “incentives” – the headline for the…
How Much Does the Machine Really Cost?
WHAT IS THAT THING, AND WHY ARE WE PAYING SO MUCH FOR IT? Read Quantifying the Machine, the Policy Council’s report on the costs of economic development, here. For other material…
Is the ‘Incentives Game’ Worth It?
In South Carolina, 2011 turned out to be a watershed year in at least one respect. For the first time, the merits of government-driven “economic development,” and especially the use…
Film incentives: A bad idea that won’t die
Film incentives are back in the news. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has pulled the plug on a $420,000 credit for Jersey Shore, a popular but controversial “reality show” that…
What Kind of Green-tech Jobs Do Your Tax Dollars Buy?
It’s easy to criticize the federal government’s attempt to boost economic growth by promoting “green” technology. The idea has a certain superficial charm, and it goes something like this: Since…
The Incentives game
Government-driven economic development is a secretive process in which politicians give away tax exemptions, subsidies, and other taxpayer-funded incentives to private companies. Politicians “invest” tax dollars without disclosing any meaningful…
Investment Fail: “Economic development” deals that flopped
After the headlines, after the press releases and fanfare, where do all these investments go? Some of them go south and take millions of tax dollars with them.
Economic Development Bill Rewards Special Interests Over Independent Businesses
One of the final pieces of legislation that may pass the General Assembly this year is an omnibus economic development bill that provides an array of targeted credits and subsidies…
Retail Incentives Set Stage for 2 Percent Sales Tax Increase
A few months ago it seemed as if the idea of handing out retail tax incentives was all but dead. But, be warned, the last week of session is the…
Three Steps Toward Transparency: Protecting Taxpayer Investments in South Carolina’s Economy
It goes without saying our political leaders should treat public tax dollars with the same care and consideration they would their own finances. This maxim has never been more necessary…