Many economists have long criticized government "economic
development" programs—including selective business subsidies and
tax incentives—as being wasteful and ineffective at "creating"
new jobs. But there is another reason to be skeptical of these
programs: They are fundamentally unfair. By taking taxes paid by
all businesses and using them to subsidize only some businesses
or industries at the expense of the others, government
unbalances the economic playing field. The poor economics and
unjust nature of these programs highlights an aspect of
privatization known as shedding, whereby government eliminates
certain of its functions entirely and leaves things to the more
efficient resource allocation of competitive markets. One
candidate for shedding is the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation (MEDC), A Case Study in Unfairness A particularly
egregious example of government "economic development"
unfairness involves Boar's Head Provision Company, a meat
products company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.