Quote Originally Posted by motz View Post
The problem is that as long as a handful of cities/states/counties/etc are taking part in the incentives wars, incentives need to be offered in order to retain or attract companies to your locale. Whenever you hear Texas squawk about their amazing economy, or hear about the South touting Right to Work as anything more than something most people don't take into consideration when locating, remember that they have thrown larger and larger tax credits at companies and then cited their legislative decisions as the reasons.

The incentives wars is one of the worst uses of public money that has been perpetuated by the corporate hierarchy that I can think of. Jobs or no jobs, if you want a company to come to you, you need to offer tax breaks. Very, very few companies relocate or open new locations in places just because it's cool or edgy or whatever.
While I agree that tax incentives are a truly unwise undertaking for government entities, look at the difference. If Beauregard County in some southern state gives incentives to Totowatomasaki Motors to locate a plant on free land in Beauregard County, most of the workers will come from the area. If Detroit gives out incentives, the business which takes them has easy access to people in the metro area who might be more qualified or have a stronger work ethic.