Is Economic Development the Job of a University?

Our taxpayer-supported colleges and universities should get back to their mission of educating young people – and leave economic development to the market.

Stimulus Dollars Not Going to Teachers and Law Enforcement

Last session, legislative leaders argued South Carolina needed every dollar of the state’s $2.8 billion federal stimulus package to save jobs for teachers and law enforcement personnel. Faced with such dire needs, Gov. Mark Sanford’s suggestion to use $694 million in stimulus funds to pay down the state’s $8.2 billion debt sent legislators into a [...]

Total Employment Falls, Local Government Hiring Continues to Grow

Last week, we demonstrated that South Carolina’s improved employment picture hasn’t really improved much at all. Rather, government hiring and a shrinking labor force are making the job numbers look better than they are. Our analysis looked at government hiring from January to May 2010. The numbers for June—which account for the elimination of thousands [...]

After ‘Investing’ Billions in Economic Development, What does South Carolina Have to Show For It?

Government-driven economic development is a secretive process in which politicians give away tax exemptions, subsidies, and other taxpayer-funded incentives to private companies. Politicians “invest” tax dollars without disclosing any meaningful analysis or information on the company, without providing an estimated return-on-investment, and with no public input.

Special Legislative Report

Download the pdf Business as Usual in South Carolina The General Assembly has just completed this year’s South Carolina legislative session—one it seemed would never end. With it, some things have changed, and some things are—just as expected—exactly the same. It’s business as usual in South Carolina. Out-of-control spending, over-regulation, and an out-of-touch Legislature determined [...]

Economic Development Bill Rewards Special Interests Over Independent Businesses

Download the PDF.   Issue Summary   One of the final pieces of legislation that may pass the General Assembly this year is an omnibus economic development bill that provides an array of targeted credits and subsidies aimed at stimulating South Carolina’s ailing economy. Recipients of the credits range from alternative energy producers to start-ups [...]

Retail Incentives Set Stage for 2 Percent Sales Tax Increase

.style2 {font-size: 14px} Download the PDF v   A few months ago it seemed as if the idea of handing out retail tax incentives was all but dead. But, be warned, the last week of session is the time when bad ideas and long-forgotten bills (H 4478, for instance) come back to life. Thus, on [...]

Budget Watch – Part I: The I-95 Corridor Authority

The Senate voted today not to concur with the amended House budget – meaning the state budget will head to conference committee. As part of our ongoing budget coverage, we’ll be highlighting issues that currently divide the two chambers – and/or may also be subject to gubernatorial veto.   In Part I of this series, [...]

Lawmakers’ Hollywood Dreams Hurting Taxpayers: The Case Against Film Incentives

With the film industry clamoring for additional tax breaks, it is worth asking whether such targeted tax breaks actually work. As we’ve written before, targeted tax incentives do not result in long-term economic growth. For certain industries, however, targeted tax breaks are especially ineffective. Our analysis of tax breaks for retailers found that such incentives [...]

Fact Sheet: Economic Development Spending Hurts South Carolina’s Economy

In South Carolina, economic incentive spending has been the emerging trend of the last 20 years. In 1994, the state spent $32 million on economic incentives. In 2008, that figure climbed to more than $500 million. Over the past two decades, the legislature has awarded special tax breaks, job credits, exemptions, bonds, and other preferential [...]