Targeted Incentives: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why It Persists with Peter Calcagno

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Remember the Amazon HQ2 frenzy? When nearly every U.S. state competed to become Amazon’s next home, offering billions in tax breaks and incentives? I do — I grew up right next door to Crystal City, Virginia, the site Amazon ultimately chose.

In this episode, I talk with economist Peter Calcagno about targeted economic incentives—the controversial policy tool that fueled the Amazon HQ2 bidding war and countless other corporate deals.

We explore questions like:

• What are targeted incentives?
• Do they actually create economic development and job growth?
• Why do politicians favor targeted incentives over other tools?
• Who wins—and who loses—when states compete this way?

Peter Calcagno is a professor of economics at the College of Charleston and director of the Center for Public Choice and Market Process. He’s also a fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, where he studies public choice theory and fiscal policy.

If you’ve ever wondered whether government subsidies for big business pay off—or if they just create unfair advantages—this conversation is for you.

Want to explore more?

• Peter Calcagno, Follow the Money, at EconLog.
• Russell Sobel, Who Really Gains from Billions in Economic Development Incentives? at Econlib.
• Lauren Heller, Prosperity Without a Price Tag, at Econlib
• Randy Simmons on Public Choice, a Great Antidote podcast.
• Art Carden, From Here to Serenity: How Public Choice Makes Me Less Cynical, at Econlib.

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