The speaker discusses the role of jobs in society and how politicians prioritize them. They mention the use of economic development incentives by state and local governments to attract businesses, which they argue will lead to job creation. They provide a specific example of the Startup New York program, which offers significant tax breaks to attract new businesses.
However, the speaker also points out the potential downsides of these incentives. They mention how they can lead to a bidding war among states, which can be detrimental to the businesses and the economy. They also discuss the case of the Ark Encounter in Kentucky, a Noah's Ark-themed attraction that received significant tax incentives. Despite the creation of jobs, the project's economic impact on the area was underwhelming.
The speaker concludes by discussing the lack of oversight over these incentive programs and the need for better accountability. They also mention the case of the movie "Entourage," which received a significant tax credit from California.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Politicians often mention jobs as a priority and a reason to offer economic development incentives to companies.
2. Economic development incentives are perks such as tax breaks that state and local governments offer to companies to entice them to build or expand in their area.
3. Startup New York is a program that offers zero taxes for new businesses for ten years.
4. Amazon is planning to build a second headquarters somewhere in North America and is making governments bid for it with incentives.
5. New Jersey reportedly offered seven billion dollars in tax breaks to Amazon.
6. Kentucky gave 18 million dollars in tax breaks to a full-size replica of Noah's Ark, which did not have the expected economic impact.
7. Film and TV incentives are programs that offer tax breaks to film or TV productions, but they often do not generate enough tax revenue or create permanent jobs.
8. Kansas and Missouri have been competing with each other by offering incentives to companies that move across the state line, resulting in a net gain of around 1,100 jobs for Kansas at a cost of 331 million dollars in lost tax revenue for both states.
9. The entourage movie got a 5.8 million dollar tax credit from California.
Is this what you were looking for? 😊