On July 26, 2017, Governor Rick Snyder signed the “Good Jobs for Michigan” package of bills into law. It was a massive, $200 million taxpayer-funded giveaway, rushed through the legislature in a vain attempt to lure FoxConn to Michigan. But it didn’t work.

Instead, FoxConn went to Wisconsin, and Michigan is better off for it. Wisconsin ended up offering $4.5 billion in taxpayer funded subsidies. While FoxConn promised to create 13,000 jobs and invest billions in Wisconsin, recent news reports indicate it would only create 1,500 jobs. Instead of a 20 million-square-foot Generation 10.5 factory to make 65-inch TVs, they are only building a 1 million-square-foot Generation 6 facility that produces smaller LCDs. As is often the case with corporate welfare, they over-promised and severely under-delivered.

Corporate welfare – using your tax dollars to subsidize Michigan businesses in the name of creating jobs – is not a new idea. But it is a terrible idea.

Michigan tried to go Hollywood in 2008 with $500 million in film subsidies… and that flopped harder than “The Love Guru.” No permanent jobs were created, and film studios bolted as soon as the taxpayer-funded handouts dried up.

Corporate handouts are bad for business.