Rivian Pauses Construction at Factory That Costs Georgia Taxpayers $1.5 Billion
The company will now build everything in its existing Illinois factory, pausing construction on the Georgia plant until "later."
Tax credits
Biden's Plan To Subsidize Homebuyers Won't Work
The president's laundry list of proposed tax credits would likely make the problem of high housing costs worse.
Congress Continues To Make the Tax Code Ridiculously Hard To Understand
I shouldn't have to spend so much money on an accountant every year. But I don't really have a choice.
Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Perpetuate Systemic Poverty
The policy is a true budget buster and is ineffective in the long term.
Biden Pours Out Another $6.5 Billion for the CHIPS Act's Costly Protectionism
It's part of the government's expensive public-private partnership meant to address concerns over a reliance on foreign countries, like China, for semiconductors.
Audit Finds New York's $700 Million Film Tax Credits Make Little Difference
The credit "is at best a break-even proposition and more likely a net cost" for the state.
Study Funded by Shell Convinced Pennsylvania To Give Shell $1.6 Billion Tax Break
The tax credits currently rank as the largest subsidy in state history.
Bipartisan Tax Credit Bonanza
Plus: California reparations bills drop, the Biden administration continues the war on gas stoves, and D.C.'s rising crime rate.
The Government Is Better at Picking Losers Than Winners
It's taxpayers who lose when politicians give gifts, grants, and loans to private companies.
St. Louis Schools Lost $260 Million to Economic Development Subsidies
According to a report from Good Jobs First, St. Louis' public schools took the brunt of the loss at nearly 65 percent of the total.
On Economic Issues, the Populist Right and Left Share a Lot of Common Ground
That's bad news for Americans.
All I Want for Christmas Is for Congress To Exercise Fiscal Restraint
Lawmakers can take small steps that are uncontroversial and bipartisan to jumpstart the fiscal stability process.
Georgia Taxpayers Lose $160,000 for Every Job Created by Film Tax Credits
The program generates just 19 cents for every dollar spent.
Tesla's Expensive New Cybertruck May Qualify for $7,500 in E.V. Tax Credits
According to a Treasury Department website, two of the three Cybertruck models currently offered would qualify for tax credits.
Promoting Free Market Solutions to Climate Change at COP28
How to declare a ceasefire in the carbon tariff wars.
The Real Scandal in Washington Is the Government's Reckless Spending
Those sounding the loudest alarms about possible shutdowns are largely silent when Congress ignores its own budgetary rules. All that seems to matter is that government is metaphorically funded.
Companies Seeking CHIPS Act Subsidies Are Encouraged To Double-Dip
At least a dozen states have beefed up targeted incentives to coincide with handouts from the Commerce Department.
Industrial Policy Isn't About Creating Jobs
It's a short-sighted approach that distracts us from the more important question.
Movie Industry Says Georgia's Film Tax Credits Are Great. State Auditors Say They're a Waste of Money.
Contradicting a new report funded by entertainment industry advocates, state auditors have cast significant doubts on the tax credit program's actual effectiveness.
Michigan Has Given the E.V. Industry $1.4 Billion and Counting
Carmakers don't need a crony-capitalist slush fund.
Conservatives Pushing 'Common Good Capitalism' Sound a Lot Like Progressives
The ideology champions the same tired policies that big government types predictably propose whenever they see something they don't like.
Don't Believe the Media Fearmongering About Spending Cuts
In 2019, discretionary spending was $1.338 trillion—or some $320 billion less than what Republicans want that side of the budget to be.
Auditors Asked the IRS To Figure Out Why So Many Taxpayers Make Mistakes. The IRS Said 'No.'
Maybe taxpayers would make fewer mistakes if the federal tax code weren't so hopelessly complex.
Georgia Is Shoveling Cash Into a Failing Electric Vehicle Company
In 2021, the state of Georgia made an expensive bet on an unproven company that could be headed for financial catastrophe.
Electric Car Prices Are Falling, With or Without Tax Credits
The Inflation Reduction Act imposes byzantine requirements to qualify for the credits. Some automakers are simply ignoring them and finding other ways to lower prices.
I Gave Myself Severe Diarrhea for Science. Don't Tax Me for It.
Eliminating taxation on compensation for being a human guinea pig is just good public policy.
Tennessee Will Use Eminent Domain To Evict Black Farmers for Ford E.V. Factory
The state promised Ford nearly $900 million in incentives, including new and upgraded roads. But it chose to run that new road through a number of black-owned farms.
The Inflation Reduction Act Is Screwing Up the Market for Electric Vehicles
Volkswagen unveiled a cheap new electric concept car, but protectionist policies mean it's not worthwhile for the company to introduce it in the U.S.
Bringing the Child Tax Credit Back to Life Is Too Costly
Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation reported that a permanent expansion would cost more than $1.4 trillion over a decade.
Electric Truck Manufacturer Featured in Super Bowl Ad Got $186 Million in Taxpayer Subsidies
Stellantis, one of the largest automakers on the planet with billions in cash on hand, got a generous handout from the state of Indiana for choosing to build its battery manufacturing plant there.
The Fight Over the Debt Ceiling Is Just Beginning
Legislators will increasingly argue over how to spend a diminishing discretionary budget while overall spending simultaneously explodes.
Biden Promotes a Hummer That Doesn't Even Qualify for His Electric Vehicle Tax Credits
Biden sat in a truck that costs as much as $120,000 to promote a tax credit that only applies to electric vehicles retailing for up to $80,000.
Youngkin Nixes Ford Electric Vehicle Plant Over Anti-China Paranoia
The factory may have been a bad deal for Virginia, but tying the decision to Chinese aggression is the wrong move.
Trump's Tax Returns Show What Sort of Tax Reform We Need
But partisans are having the wrong debate.
Free Market Think Tank Names Georgia Electric Vehicle Plant the 'Worst Economic Development Deal of 2022'
Rivian, an electric truck manufacturer that hopes to compete with Tesla, received a lucrative deal to build a new factory in Georgia despite concerns about its finances.
Congress Can Reduce the Deficit by $7.7 Trillion in 10 Years
The Congressional Budget Office projects that future deficits will explode. But there's a way out.
Subsidies To Help Workers Would Hurt Poor People
Some people would benefit. Others would lose money or be rendered unemployable.
Congress' Lame-Duck Legislators Want To Spend Money Like We're Still in a Pandemic
It's especially outrageous when considering the billions of dollars in fraud that took place thanks to COVID-19 relief programs.
A Lame-Duck Congress Should Reject the Extended Child Tax Credit
The policy has some bipartisan support, despite the fact that it has mostly been a failure since its inception.
A GOP-Led Congress May Focus on Owning the Libs. Instead, It Should Focus on Owning Inflation.
If the midterms favor Republicans, their top priority needs to be the fight against inflation—whether or not they feel like they created the problem.
Ohio Pledges Over $150 Million in Taxpayer Money for Honda Factories
Honda, one of the world's largest automakers, announced it would spend $4 billion building and upgrading factories in Ohio. The state is showering it with public funds anyway.
Divided Government Is Good. In 2023, Bipartisanship Would Be Better.
From immigration to drug reform, there is plenty of potential for productive compromise.
The Government Should Be Pro-Market, Not 'Pro-Business'
Businesses are all in favor of competition, tax cuts, and deregulation only until they aren't—meaning only until subsidies might benefit them.
IRS Sent $1.1 Billion in Child Welfare Payments to the Wrong People
Possibly the federal government's most efficient pandemic spending effort.
A Few Ideas for the Better Government Americans Desperately Want
From cronyist subsidies to an unfair tax code, there are several key fixes Congress could make to better serve the public.
How To Waste $1 Trillion
Why should we believe that this boondoggle will produce better results than hundreds of other corporate welfare programs?
The Disappearing Differences Between Republicans and Democrats on Federal Family Spending
Many conservatives no longer appear to care much for fiscal conservatism.
The Democrats' New Inflation Bill Includes Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles That Don't Exist
Even Democrats are criticizing the bill's unrealistic expectations.