By last winter Motorola's misfortunes were so great that it was closing the manufacturing component of the Harvard plant. Such episodes are becoming increasingly familiar. Trading subsidies targeted at specific companies in exchange for the opportunity to preside at ribbon-cutting ceremonies is an ancient political ploy. But lately regional governments across the globe have taken up the economic development game with new energy. And when localities are eager, it seems, there is almost no limit to what companies can extract from them.
Politicians offer utopian forecasts to justify their gamesmanship.
But it is not clear that the Boeing deal, or any similar one, is really a bargain. To placate Seattle, Boeing has stressed that the jobs it is relocating are head office ones, not factory spots that proliferate instantly when a new order comes in. If so, the optimism is hard to countenance. But the main problem with this sort of economic development is that somebody has to foot the bill and that somebody is the taxpayer - including less favoured employers. A nationwide accounting of the extent or costs of such outlays is hard to come by, since so many are driven by regional activity.