Karen,

 

Just one thing about your excellent post.

 

It comes up again and again and is the contention that money spent at Wal-Mart and other large firms somehow disappears out of state.

 

I would conclude that as the money is being exported, there is less left around town. So, before long, this drain would mean that no money is left and no-one can buy anything.

 

As this doesn’t appear to happen, money must be coming back into town. Where does it come from?

 

Also, I wonder what Arkansas does with all that money. I get the impression that Arkansans are up to their waists in twenties.

 

Not to worry, the idea arises from a modern economic education that has forgotten about reality.

 

Harry

 

*******************************

Henry George School of Social Science

of Los Angeles

Box 655  Tujunga  CA 91042

818 352-4141

*******************************

 

 


From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Karen Watters Cole
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 2:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Futurework] State Incentives Questioned

 

Not all these tax incentive schemes are planned and executed well. Many times the corporation has pulled up, lock, stock and barrel, just before they were to begin paying taxes after the grace period expired, leaving communities in debt for infrastructure upgrades, job losses and the lost revenue. 

 

As with some restrictions on Wal Mart’s rampant building programs, some municipalities are learning to build in clauses that guarantee a penalty if the company leaves early, or in the case of Wal Mart, they vacate the property too quickly.

 

There is no free lunch, they say, but municipalities have a real problem when corporations take a Godzilla approach to the marketplace. If people realized that most employment in their state, as well as nationally, came from small and medium sized businesses, not the large corporations, they would be even more angry about the giveaways and blackmail done in the name of economic development.

 

Moreover, when you have large national firms as your major employer/revenue, the bulk of their monies go out of state to HQ.  The multiplier effect favors local, independent businesses. For every $1 spent with a local business, it circulates 3 times at other local/regional businesses, instead of being shipped out overnight to Arkansas, for instance. A local business almost always has a local attorney, a local printer, a local CPA, a local insurance agent, etc. and the owners pay local taxes and raise their kids there, so they have a vested interest in the community’s long term sustainability.

 

People are also paying more attention to where they bank and buy their mortgages, weary of the mega mergers and loss of identity. It may be a side effect of globalization and the wonders of technology, but it also has something to do with pride of place and community.

 

Karen

 

 

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