Friday, July 29, 2011

Wise words about Aerotropolis

I admit to not knowing much about Missouri Rep. Jeannette Mott Oxford (D-St. Louis) before I read this Missouri Watchdog article, but I'm going to keep my eye on her. The article has some perceptive quotes from her about the Aerotropolis plan, including
  • “A lot of people understand that things in this bill don’t smell right.”
  • “I don’t think there is evidence that tax credits create a lot of jobs,” she said, adding that businesses often threaten not to come to a region or state unless they are promised some kind of incentives.
  • “The words I use to describe this is mafia capitalism.”
Missouri Sen. Jason Crowell (R-Cape Girardeau) also deserves kudos for his wise words:
“Developers know this will not be a financial success,” Crowell writes. “Otherwise they would move forward with Aerotropolis without government subsidies.”
Finally, Sen. Kurt Bahr (R-O'Fallon) points out the peculiar logic of using money saved from doing away with ineffective state tax credit programs to finance a new tax credit program.

Let's hope that the good sense exhibited by these representatives of ours in Jefferson City is common enough to improve state economic development policies.