Economics
Taxpayer Subsidies to Companies Fall 70% as U.S. States Pull Back
- Dollar amount of big tax breaks slides $12 billion since 2013
- Corporations have `gotten pretty much whatever they wanted'
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States and cities have dramatically scaled back taxpayer subsidies to corporations in the past two years, doling out fewer and smaller breaks to lure development projects.
Government subsidies of at least $50 million have plummeted about 70 percent since 2013, according to an analysis by Good Jobs First, a union-funded research and advocacy group that tracks the cost of tax breaks. The drop-off comes in the face of a tough new accounting rule that will force governments to release more information about the deals and a presidential campaign that has Republicans and Democrats alike criticizing "crony capitalism."