Why We Keep A Scorecard of Business Subsidies – Mackinac Center

The state government’s business subsidies are impractical, and lawmakers should stop offering them. They are ineffective at growing the economy, unfair to the businesses that don’t get them, and expensive to the state budget. This is one reason why we maintain a scorecard on how lawmakers vote on business subsidy programs.

There is a more fundamental reason why we pay close attention to these laws, however. They promote things that are outside of the proper role of government. And for a time in history, government spending could not be used to encourage private business.

In the earliest days of Michigan’s state government — and the governments of many other states — elected officials tried to encourage economic growth and disaster ensued. Some states couldn’t pay their creditors and others lost substantial sums in support of private railroads, canals, and other spending projects known as “internal improvements.” Voters, in response…

Read more…