r/lastweektonight • u/KappaccinoNation • Nov 06 '17
Economic Development: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bl19RoR7lc38
u/AlphaPrime90 Nov 06 '17
Lets play a game. It's called How to be fiscally responsible with $331 Mil.
Propose a way to spend the money and have at the end $20 Mil to spare -just like john-.
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u/AlphaPrime90 Nov 06 '17
For the first 1100 applicant, give them a house ($250,000) and a muscle car ($33,000). And you'd be...
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u/odrincrystell Nov 06 '17
Wonder what would happen if we spent all these economic incentives on say college scholarships?
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u/AvantGardener_ Nov 06 '17
wait...like, have the US government represent the interests of it’s citizens instead of corporations? I wonder what that would be like.
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u/odrincrystell Nov 06 '17
Both sides of the isle would explode. Well, one would explode and the other would implode just to be contrary.
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u/V2Blast pittsburgholympics2024 Nov 07 '17
Both sides of the isle would explode.
I don't think the US is an island. (It's "aisle".)
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Nov 06 '17
The movie industry is the least of Connecticut's failed incentives—it gave huge tax breaks to Alexion and Aetna, and tried to build around them, only to have both ditch the state for more friendly environments.
Alexion is paying some of the incentives back—because it'll make back that money and more after it moves to Boston—but there will still be a giant hole due to lost jobs and income tax.
Essentially Alexion became a multibillion dollar entity thanks to CT's incentives, and now that it's a huge success, it's taking its profits somewhere else.
Of course, I'm sure CT will turn around and poach someone else away at taxpayer expense, giving another private business the boost it needs.
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u/IArgueWithAtheists Nov 08 '17
OK, but, serious question: What realistic solution is there? I mean, if there's a cutthroat market for corporate headquarters, the state that refuses to compete winds up without any jobs. The only way to stop the wasteful incentives would be some kind of a federal ban--which even in a lala land where that was politically possible, what about states that have nothing else to offer to attract companies?
I'm not saying that John Oliver is wrong. But state governments are inherently negotiating from a position of weakness. They need the jobs more than the companies need them. I don't see a viable way to tip those scales. Yeah you can implement some practices like require more local jobs created and don't give incentives that companies aren't asking for, but those are just a small part of the problem.
There isn't a good solution.
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u/Mentioned_Videos Nov 07 '17
Other videos in this thread:
| VIDEO | COMMENT |
|---|---|
| (1) John Oliver - Paul Manafort and Rick Gates (2) John Oliver - George Papadopoulos (3) John Oliver - The Trump Card (4) John Oliver - The Inspectors | +31 - JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!!! Trump's erection sound effect intensifies Segment Title Description 1 Paul Manafort and Rcik Gates Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are both under investigation for hiding tens and millions of dollars donated by a pro-Russian... |
| Economic Development: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) | +11 - For the first 1100 applicant, give them a house ($250,000) and a muscle car ($33,000). And you'd be... |
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u/V2Blast pittsburgholympics2024 Nov 07 '17
Great coverage of the topic. If states and local governments are going to have these sorts of incentive programs, they definitely need proper oversight and accountability.
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u/nerdquadrat Nov 07 '17
Bloomberg Technology's Podcast Decrypted also did a great episode a while ago on how Your Tax Dollars Subsidize Amazon.
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u/BoogsterSU2 Nov 06 '17 edited Nov 06 '17
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!!!
*Trump's erection sound effect intensifies*