Sifting through the bullshit of economic development experts

Today, the Grand Rapids Press published an article based upon a “conversation” between four pro-business advocates who had some advice for those running for the governor’s seat in Michigan. The message was, Michigan needs tax incentives in order for companies move to Michigan.

The Press reporter called the four people who took part in such a discussion “the state’s top economic developers.” These “experts” were Greg Main (CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation), Birgit Klohs (The Right Place Program), Randy Thelan (Lakeshore Advantage) and Ron Kitchens (Southwest Michigan First).

This group of four had a conversation with no one present except reporters, which makes this a well crafted political move to get the news media to put the issue of business tax incentives on the table before the August 3^rd Primary.

Look at it this way, if four or four hundred working people got together to talk about what elected officials need to do to lure workers to Michigan do you think the local news media would bother to show up? The chances that reporters would attend such a confab are slim to none and one of the reasons is because media outlets rely on businesses buying ad time/space, but don’t rely on working class people to do the same. Another reason is due to the fact that journalists in the US for the most part have internalized the basic pro-business/capitalist values, which believes that what makes wealth are business people. Workers, in this model, are necessary but don’t have much value since they don’t have the ideas or the vision to create jobs.

However, ask yourself if any rich businessman, made millions or billions because they did all the work? How much money could a factory owner make if he or she didn’t have workers? In the classical Marxist sense, workers make wealth because workers make products.

Beyond theoretical views of wealth creation, the Press story does not really provide any evidence that what the “economic experts” are advocating for is based on fact. When one looks at the organizations that each of the “experts” represent, it seems to me that these are well funded and well connected entities that figure out ways to make more money for those within their political circles. Look at the board of directors for Southwest Michigan First and you can see who will fundamentally benefit from their economic development plans.

Once you realize who makes up the circles of economic power within these development entities it make it easier to see through their public rhetoric. In the Press article, the CEO of Southwest Michigan First, Ron Kitchens, speaking about tax incentives says, “We’re in the people business. We do this so that human beings who have no jobs or who are underemployed today have opportunities. This is about changing peoples lives.” Wow, not only are business people wealth creators, they are just wonderful humanitarians.

Besides not questioning the rhetoric of these experts, the Press does not bother to balance their comments with the research of people like Greg LeRoy, author of the book The Great American Jobs Scam. LeRoy argues that corporations play states against each other in search of the best business incentives, incentives that the author documents amount to about $50 billion dollars a year. Therefore, the question shouldn’t be how do we provide incentives for businesses to come or to stay in Michigan, rather how do we hold businesses accountable to communities of working people and tax payers?