The Opinion Blog

Local Incentives Need More Answers

Sunday’s editorial is the second of a two-part series on economic development incentives. While yesterday’s installment focused on their worth on the state and national level, today’s focuses more on local efforts:

Yesterday, we discussed how economic development incentives are most often a preposterously bad idea on a national and state level, giving public money to businesses that hold jobs for ransom, not because companies actually need such help.

University of Missouri political scientist Kenneth Thomas, who has spent most of his career studying incentives, put it this way in a recent interview: “We’ve just created a system where we pay them a lot of money to do something they would have done anyway.”

But that was on the national and state level. What about locally? There, the situation is a bit different. As long as we don’t particularly care about the costly effect such giveaways have on the state or the nation, incentives can actually make some difference on the city or county level. Those who study the practice have concluded that grants and tax breaks are at their most effective when companies are trying to decide between similar cities or metro areas. It’s in this situation that incentives can sway decisions at least a bit, even if it’s at the expense of other areas in the state or region.

SUNDAY OPEN FORUM

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'Legalized Bribery of the Rich'

Saturday’s editorial is the first of a two-part look at economic development incentives and whether they’re a good idea. The first looks at them from a national and state level.

Do we need to use economic incentives as bait to lure new businesses to our state? Is it the best use of our public money? Proponents say the tax breaks and grants are important tools in the quest to bring more jobs to the area. Opponents condemn what they see as government picking winners and losers without any accountability for how the money is spent. Who’s right? Perhaps both. What is clear, however, is that at a minimum the entire process could benefit from increased oversight and transparency.

The practice, which leading incentive researcher Timothy Bartik has referred to as “legalized bribery of the rich,” has gotten more attention of late as Horry County Council and local economic developers have ramped up their efforts to rope in new companies. Local leaders have embraced the idea of paying for jobs as a vital and cost-effective means of securing new employers. And there’s some evidence that it can work on the local level. But the landscape looks much different from higher up.

SATURDAY OPEN FORUM

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Face the Facts | Coal production

Face the Facts USA is a nonpartisan initiative of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. 

FACT: With domestic consumption of coal down to its lowest point since 1988, U.S. coal exports have reached their highest levels in 20 years. On the campaign trail, Republicans accuse President Barack Obama of waging “war on coal.” Coal companies blame over-regulation from Washington.

But U.S. coal production has risen substantially over the last half-century, from 560 million tons in 1950 to 1.1 billion tons in 2011. Exports are rising too.

Hard road to amusement success

Perhaps it's time for a vacation. I'm getting a bit too cynical here. My first thoughts, upon reading this morning of the planned Asian Wonder Land at the site of the former Myrtle Square Mall, was "yeah, right. $25 a person for that?" Then I thought of the Butterfly Pavilion at Broadway. And the Ice Castle Theatre in Fantasy Harbour. And the Hard Rock/Freestyle Music Amusement Park. And the Art Linkletter Planetarium. And the Atlantic Center Arena. And the international trade center that had been proposed for the Myrtle Square site. And the Magic Harbor Amusement Park. And the Pat Boone Theater that has been talked about for years but has yet to open. (And that's just in 5 minutes off the top of my head.)

Wish the folks behind this newest idea nothing but the best. Good luck to them. But it's a hard place to succeed in. Or maybe I'm just due for a vacation.

Fishing for the Truth

Friday’s editorial takes a look again at the woes afflicting our local fishing industry:

When the local black sea bass fishing season was shut down earlier this month, recreational boat captains quickly cried foul. Though the species is listed as overfished by the federal National Marine Fisheries Service, local fishermen say they’re seeing plenty of the fish, so much that the bass are eating other species and disrupting the ecosystem. At least in the fight so far, the feds have the power. The season has closed down earlier and earlier each year for the past three years. This past year, the season lasted only 96 days.

The argument, as it has for the past few years, comes down to a very basic disconnect. Local fishermen who are out on the water every day say there are lots of fish. Federal regulators say there aren’t.

FRIDAY OPEN FORUM

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Insider fishing knowledge

Coming tomorrow, an updated editorial on the ongoing problems that local fishermen are having with seasons ending early. Got this update from Tom Swatzel at the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and thought it summed up the situation so well I'd just share the whole thing here ahead of tomorrow's piece:

 Thanks for the newspaper's interest in fisheries issues.

 I think it would be good to look at the black sea bass rebuilding plan, which I think has been poorly managed, causing real perception problems with fishermen.

Face the Facts | Health care mandate

Another daily fact and graphic from the folks at Face the Facts USA. 

FACT: Penalties for failing to purchase health insurance under the new Affordable Health Care Act start in 2014. The fines start as low as $95 per year for an individual, or 1 percent of a person’s income. By 2016 the individual penalty will rise to $695 or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is higher, unless the individual meets a poverty test or is on Medicaid. This is the “individual mandate” upheld in 2012 by the Supreme Court as a tax, meaning the IRS will collect any penalties. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 5.9 million Americans – 1.9 percent of the population – would face the penalty unless they obtain health insurance. CBO expects the penalty to raise $7 billion to $8 billion.