Researchers at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (MCPP) point to the state’s Good Jobs for Michigan program as yet another glaring example of how corporate handouts typically are not worth the investment.
“Corporate handouts are ineffective, unfair and also transfer money from taxpayers to wealthy business owners,” the free trade advocacy group said in a blog posted to its website. “But they also get strong bipartisan support.”
In the case of The Good Jobs program, $200 million in state revenues was earmarked to be doled out for select businesses before 2020. To date, almost $164 million has been distributed with the MCPP wondering if the state really has anything to show for it.
While no definitive numbers are yet known in terms of the number of new jobs that were produced from the contributions, Mackinac researchers are convinced that lawmakers are ready for a re-up.
“They should fight that temptation because such programs don’t work,” the group said in its blog. “Lawmakers may intend for the programs to promote economic growth, but the spending might harm the economy instead.”
As further proof of its position, the MCPP points to the findings of an economist who reviewed a similar plan in a different state and concluded that such programs have little impact.
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