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If city officials bothered with a little research (assuming they don't already know), they'd find several examples of Big Co. entering and leaving small cities

If city officials bothered with a little research (assuming they don't already know), they'd find several examples of Big Co. entering and leaving small cities and towns without creating economic value equivalent to the huge incentives used to lure them in. Very similar to how officials chase Olympic hosting bids, even when history clearly shows that the legacy is additional debt and underutilized facilities (e.g. purpose-built stadiums/villages that only get used during the occasion). Everytime I read of such schemes, I can't help but wonder how much lasting value could have been created by using just a minute fraction of the money wasted to foster the local startup/small business scene instead.

scarmig 11y ago
Or even just leaving the money in people's pockets. I'm not a person who thinks that all government destroys value, but this is a pretty clear example of a time when the government extracted millions of dollars of productive resources and poured it into an idiotic scheme. Everyone would be better off today (except IBM's investors) if the city officials responsible for this fiasco had just been given a free lifelong vacation starting the day they started planning it.
- djrogers 11y ago
  Why do you think any money was actually spent on this? These were tax breaks - a reduction or elimination of tax payments that IBM wouldn't have made is they hadn't moved in anyway. How is that taking money out of people's pockets?
  - Geekette 11y ago
    Tax breaks are just some of the incentives. E.g. Dubuque also renovated a historic building for IBM, which cost money upfront. That said, I think tax breaks ultimately cost money, especially when the locals hired earn less than projected (thus, contributing less in income tax to city and less in spending to local industries) while company enjoys little to no tax, makes money and uses other municipal resources without adequate contribution.

scarmig 11y ago

Or even just leaving the money in people's pockets. I'm not a person who thinks that all government destroys value, but this is a pretty clear example of a time when the government extracted millions of dollars of productive resources and poured it into an idiotic scheme. Everyone would be better off today (except IBM's investors) if the city officials responsible for this fiasco had just been given a free lifelong vacation starting the day they started planning it.

djrogers 11y ago
Why do you think any money was actually spent on this? These were tax breaks - a reduction or elimination of tax payments that IBM wouldn't have made is they hadn't moved in anyway. How is that taking money out of people's pockets?
- Geekette 11y ago
  Tax breaks are just some of the incentives. E.g. Dubuque also renovated a historic building for IBM, which cost money upfront. That said, I think tax breaks ultimately cost money, especially when the locals hired earn less than projected (thus, contributing less in income tax to city and less in spending to local industries) while company enjoys little to no tax, makes money and uses other municipal resources without adequate contribution.