Last June I was in Lansing on business when I bumped into a state legislator I have known for many years. Our exchange got me thinking about economic development programs and personal liberty.
He asked me what I thought of the possibility of a new and special program of state incentives that would be given only to a specific industry. I told him it was a bad idea and explained that the there exists a great deal of empirical evidence to suggest that such programs just don’t work. His response shocked me:
“So you don’t think we should use the tax system to get people to do what we want them to do?" he said.
I responded with a rhetorical question: “Am I am man or a circus poodle made to jump through state government hoops in order to collect a biscuit that belonged to me in the first place?” Naturally, the biscuit represents the incentive (tax credit, abatement or subsidy perhaps) that the government dangles in front of people and job providers in the hope they may use it in a way that pleases Lansing (or other) politicians. He had no answer.
Every time the state grows it necessarily makes the rest of us smaller. Why? These programs are not costless. At a minimum they require a bureaucracy to oversee them, and most government employees are not working gratis. The money used to fund these programs is taken from those of us that would like to fund our own personal development programs. If we could keep more of our own money we could start or expand a business, save or invest, or anything else that strikes a free man’s fancy.
Comments