Good discussion Corktownyuppie and timely with the New York Amazon story peaking.

What doesn't get a lot of notice is the concept of opportunity cost. If a community subsidizes a private business via tax credit or otherwise there is still plenty of costs incurred, as others noted above, to the community's expenses, starting with negotiation costs.

The time, effort and the land permitted for use become time, money and land not available for other ventures--maybe for one that would have happened without grants, meaning a lost opportunity, hence an opportunity cost is incurred.

Should breaks be granted in Downtown / Midtown Detroit which seem to have achieved developmental critical mass? Are the opportunities in Island City so lean that they desperately need to pay an Amazon? I don't think so.

If it's for, say, a new solar farm using an abandoned coal strip mine in West Virginia I get it. If it is a monopoly sports team in a built-up area without even a whiff of business competition, that's another thing. There is merit in some incentives, but it has to be very, very carefully vetted. Otherwise we're walking about with a big "Sucker" sign taped on our back.