OPINION: Rethinking State Economic Policies

With a new administration in Madison—and the recent announcement of new leadership on the state development commission—this is a good time to rethink the role of economic development in Wisconsin. As a new report from the Upjohn Foundation‘s Tim Bartik suggests, “… governors and mayors … find it difficult to resist handing out large tax incentives to major corporations, ideally paid for by their political successors.”

Certainly, that fits the Wisconsin experience. The Foxconn subsidy is an extreme example of where the conventional process leads. Bartik notes that “The Foxconn offer, as a percentage of the facility’s value-added, is more than 10 times the national average, and 10 times Wisconsin’s typical incentives.”...

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Ken Notes: I have been saying much of this for 12 years now. I hope there is real positive change on the horizon but I have not seen any legislative ideas come to fruition and change must be bipartisan and systemic. Wouldn`t have been cool to work with 10 "Foxconn`s" across the State instead of just one. Some would fail some would thrive and Wisconsin would grow.