Center for Economic Accountability

Your state government’s economic development strategy relies on the argument that politicians, bureaucrats and lobbyists are getting together behind closed doors to decide which corporations get millions or even billions of tax dollars, but they’re doing that for YOUR benefit.

No more crony "economic development" deals with taxpayer money! Find out how and why to end this in my @ceidotorg study (w/ @johnmoz of @AccountableEcon): cei.org/studies/corpor…

👍👍 #BanSecretDeals mprnews.org/story/2026/03/…

Terrible economic development policies played a meaningful role in destroying the relationship between the people of Ferguson and a government that was 'policing for profit' to replace revenues lost to tax abatements. economicaccountability.org/ferguson/

If a new Rays stadium is really the tax revenue generator it's claimed to be, then why is a totally unrelated tax needed to fund the stadium? 🤔 It's almost as if the stadium proponents know the economic benefits they're touting are a lie.

Today is the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations.' Two years ago, I explained in @NRO how Smith's original formula for prosperity is still valid today, however much our 'economic development' policies might ignore it. nationalreview.com/2024/03/adam-s…

Yes, end taxpayer handouts for *every* business and industry! Here's the study (from me & @johnmoz of @AccountableEcon) explaining how and why: cei.org/studies/corpor…

Counter-proposal: How about a forever pause on state-funded tax incentives for *every* kind of business? cei.org/studies/corpor…

Comedian Charlie Berens testified to start a Wisconsin public hearing on banning NDAs related to data centers (*except related to trade secrets)

Oops.

“I’ve got to be honest with you, it baffles my mind that you guys are sitting here in front of me right now and we still have no idea where this money is coming from."

Economic development subsidies don't really exist to create jobs. Rather, their mission is to make voters believe that politicians are responsible for creating jobs.

"The WBC's inability to stem the tide of stagnation would surprise no one at @AccountableEcon. The policy shop notes that there is 'no evidence' that #corporatewelfare schemes 'actually create #jobs or grow an #economy,' and '[e]ven the site selection industry's own studies admit that government subsidies play a minimal role in companies' decisions about where to build, and most would have made the same decision without the subsidy.'" ddowdmuska.substack.com/p/the-cowboy-s…

If companies want public 'investment,' then the public deserves as much transparency into the project details as any Wall Street banker, venture capitalist, hedge fund manager or bank loan officer. Elected officials should not sign away the public's right to know. #bansecretdeals

As usual, @johnmoz had some of the best testimony in all of Lansing this morning. "Well, bye!"

Ohio gave companies nearly $924 million in public money to create jobs in 2025, yet less than half delivered on their promises. A new state audit shows that failing companies get to keep their tax breaks anyway: goodjobsfirst.org/ohio-jctc-audi…

Just testified in support of Michigan HB 5288, which would ban @MEDC subsidies to companies on the State Department’s list of entities that profit from Uyghur forced labor. Very happy to see the committee overwhelmingly approve the bill. legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?Obj…

Every governor who claims they can't 'unilaterally disarm' from corporate subsidy programs because other states are doing them is effectively arguing that central economic planning is more effective than the free market at creating jobs and prosperity.

It seems people are waking up to the fact that the public outlay for the Chiefs stadium isn't going to be funded by new windfall revenue created by the project, and $1.8 BILLION is *a lot* of taxpayer money. kansascity.com/news/politics-…

Those of us at @econliberties, @GoodJobsFirst, @AccountableEcon, @MackinacCenter and many others have been saying for years that corrupt NDAs help foist unpopular corporate subsidy deals onto communities. Glad to see more folks discovering the scam. washingtonpost.com/business/2026/…

Mississippi has won our Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year Award for 2025 for giving @CompassDCs a 10-year exemption from state sales, use, income & franchise taxes, a 30-year property tax deal and more for creating potentially as few as 20 jobs. economicaccountability.org/2025/12/29/mis…