Center for Economic Accountability

Here's our funding package proposal for @royals.com and @chiefs.bsky.social stadiums:

Will Amazon choose free markets or corporate welfare? Will Jeff Bezos put his money where his mouth is and end his company's participation in economic development subsidies?

Jeff Bezos loves free markets, but does he love them enough to end Amazon’s addiction to corporate welfare?

Research & Resources Peer-reviewed research, scholarly articles, working papers and other important insights by independent researchers If you’re interested in learning more about what researchers know — or…

For years, independent experts at some of the nation's most prominent universities and research institutions have been digging into the real-world results of state and municipal governments' economic development programs to find out what works - and what doesn't - to encourage growth & prosperity:

Charlotte’s Football Stadium Renovations Named 2024’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by The Center for Economic Accountability December 30, 2024 – The Center for Economic Accountability has given its “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year Award” for 2024 to Charlotte, N.C.’s city government for its deal to spend $650…

Charlotte's $650 million in subsidized renovations for privately owned Bank of America Stadium wins our Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year Award for 2024. Cost, poor transparency, bad ROI arguments and a partner's past history all played a role. economicaccountability.org/2024/12/30/c...

"Job creation" comes at a cost:

In 2022, New York City reported losing $3.867 billion in revenues to corporate tax abatements.

That was enough money to fund the FY2023 budgets of the Fire Department of New York ($2.29B) and NYC Department of Transportation ($1.44B), combined.

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Hollywood sequels suck, especially this one. Like Jason from a grave, Palpatine from a clone tank or Mickey Rourke from rehab, film subsidies are making an attempted comeback in Michigan thanks to legislation from @senpolehanki.bsky.social, @jeremymoss.bsky.social & @erikageiss.bsky.social. #mileg

The Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year Award There are a lot of terrible economic development development deals made by state and municipal governments every year. One has to stand out as the worst. It seems like every day has some new announ…

Since 2018, we've scoured the country to identify the Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year. Nominations are open for this year's award, tell us below what 2024 boondoggle you think should win this coveted(?) honor and why.

Learn more: economicaccountability.org/worstdealoft...

Support the CEA Thank you for your interest in supporting The Center for Economic Accountability’s mission to bring transparency, accountability and free-market-based reforms to state and local economic deve…

We're facing off against the combined power of big business and big government. We've got facts and data on our side, but we need your support as well. economicaccountability.org/support/

Georgia’s Rivian Plant Subsidy Recognized as 2022’s “Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year” by the Center for Economic Accountability Insufficient due diligence, speculative returns, lack of concern for local impacts and convoluted structure set project apart in a historic year for corporate welfare megadeals. December 27, 2022 –…

Hopefully federal bureaucrats did better due diligence than Georgia's did before dedicating billions of taxpayer dollars to this project.

They could hardly do any worse.

economicaccountability.org/2022/12/27/g...

Biden administration to loan $6.6B to EV maker Rivian to build Georgia factory that automaker paused President Joe Biden’s administration will loan $6.6 billion to electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive to build a Georgia factory.

Somehow, our Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year Award winner for 2022 has gotten much worse in 2024. apnews.com/article/geor...

Legislature extends tax breaks for data center that brought only 2.6% of promised jobs Bill could reduce state revenue by more than $90 million, says Senate Fiscal Agency

"John Mozena, president of the Center for Economic Accountability, said that data centers are some of the 'dumbest things a state can subsidize.'” www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/legisla...

Film offices exist to subsidize films, not protect the public interest. Georgia audits uncovered that its state film office not only reimbursed producers for expenses like parking tickets and "lost petty cash," but also counted workers at multiplex concession stands as "film industry jobs."

As always:

Stadium subsidies are bad deals for communities like St. Petersburg There are several key issues that stadium cheerleaders don’t want you to think too hard about.

With the news that Rays owner Stuart Sternberg is threatening to relocate his team if the people of St. Petersburg don’t prioritize his new stadium over hurricane recovery, a reminder that it’s ALWAYS been a bad deal. www.tampabay.com/opinion/2024...

Research & Resources Peer-reviewed research, scholarly articles, working papers and other important insights by independent researchers If you’re interested in learning more about what researchers know — or…

Our work to reform state and local economic development programs is grounded in research performed by university professors and other independent experts across the country. We’ve collected a sampling of those studies and reports on our website: economicaccountability.org/research-res...

On the Cato Daily Podcast, CEA president @johnmoz.bsky.social and Cato's Stephen Slivinski dug into the way state and local economic development programs are more about Election Day "job creation" for the politicians who run them than economic factors in our communities. www.cato.org/multimedia/c...

Let's hear it for Nashville voters rewarding stadium subsidy skeptics and punishing corporate welfare cheerleaders in yesterday's municipal elections. As always:

How Corporate Welfare DISRUPTS Economies & PROBLEM With "Sidewalk Socialism" | Ep. 55 w John Mozena Thank you for watching this week's episode of the "Let People Prosper" podcast. Today, I'm honored to be joined by John Mozena, president of The Center for E...

CEA President @johnmoz.bsky.social is the guest on the Let People Prosper Podcast with former OMB chief economist and state fiscal policy expert Dr. Vance Ginn, discussing how "economic development" shares many of the same fundamental flaws that doom other central economic planning models.

Stadium Subsidies The Center for Economic Accountability’s position on government subsidies for professional sports franchises is simple: Pro sports teams should “Pay For Their Own Damn Stadiums.” …

And yes, if you want one of those "PAY FOR YOUR OWN DAMN STADIUM" stickers we'll happily send you some for free, they're available in a variety of colors that you may find relevant in cities like, say, Charlotte or Las Vegas/Oakland or Chicago or Washington, DC or Buffalo or Albuquerque or...

Let's get this out of the way right out of the gate in our first Bluesky post: Economic development subsidies don't exist to create jobs. Rather, they exist to make voters believe that politicians are responsible for creating jobs.