Christie’s Tax Breaks Fail to Spur Growth, Report Says

Chris Christie has awarded $4 billion in business tax breaks since becoming governor, in a “largely unsuccessful” effort to boost New Jersey’s economy, according to a report from a group critical of the incentives.

Under Christie, the grants have become more focused on keeping jobs and less on creating new ones, said Jon Whiten, deputy director of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a Trenton-based group that advocates for measures to benefit the poor. The share of jobs already in New Jersey that were tied to subsidies has surged to 43 percent from 25 percent in the 2000s, according to the report.