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My problem with it is that citizens are supposed to be equal under the law. There isn't equal access to these incentives. Doesn't an educated professional movin
by krapht 11y ago
My problem with it is that citizens are supposed to be equal under the law. There isn't equal access to these incentives. Doesn't an educated professional moving to Nevada also bring positive externalities to the state? Yet they will never be able to negotiate incentives like these due to the great disparity in bargaining power.
I am against special carve-outs, subsidies, and other manipulations of the tax code in general for the same reason.
- danhak 11y agoYour point is well taken, but an educated professional moving to Nevada is not likely to affect the state's economy enough to move the needle. I'd contend that there is equal access to incentives like this for any entity with sufficient scale.
- krapht 11y agoSometimes I like to pretend I live in a country where those with money and influence don't receive preferential treatment from the state. I know why it happens. I know it will continue to happen. The same thing happens on the country-scale with multi-nationals picking the most favorable nation to be taxed in. But I don't want my government to enable the game by playing it. Pardon me while I wait for Tesla's windfall to trickle-down and lift all my boats.
- fennecfoxen 11y ago> there is equal access to incentives like this for any entity with sufficient scale. Even when that's perfectly so and the rest of Democracy is perfectly fair, this dynamic is intrinsically unfair and benefits the rich and powerful established interests at the expense of smaller entities. It's the gateway from capitalism to cronyism.
- danhak 11y agoMaybe I'm out of touch, but I just don't consider a fledgling electric car manufacturer to be an "established interest."
- fennecfoxen 11y agoElon Musk is worth $13 billion. Tesla Motors is worth $19 billion (roughly half of Nissan). Both are household names. You read about their exploits in these pages, and in publications such as the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, as a matter of routine. QED And sure, you don't expect the Mom and Pop family-owned shop down the street to spring up to compete with Tesla like you might expect a local bakery to compete with General Mills, but you do expect Tesla to have some competition in areas like the labor market.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]