Economic Development [Mackinac Center]

Michael LaFaive, director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, explains in a recent Port Huron Times-Herald Op-Ed why the Michigan film subsidy program needs to be eliminated. … more

Mitch Albom and Michigan Budget Director on Different Sides of Film Subsidy Ledger

By Kathy Hoekstra, published on April 5, 2011

Congressman Cites Center Research as Reason for His Change of Heart Over Film Subsidies

Published on March 29, 2011

Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who as a state legislator supported Michigan’s film subsidy program, cited research by Mackinac Center analysts as one reason he now says he “won’t second guess” plans to roll back the program, according to WZZM-TV13 in Grand Rapids. … more

LaFaive, Albom on Film Subsidies

Published on March 28, 2011

Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, appeared on Detroit television station WDIV’s “FlashPoint” program Sunday morning as part of a panel discussion on Michigan’s film subsidy program. Author Mitch Albom also appeared on the program. … more

Film Council Blasts Proposed Subsidy Cut

Published on March 14, 2011

Film Subsidy Amounts Grossly Under-Reported

Published on March 9, 2011

The amount of film subsidies given away in Michigan was under-reported by $72 million in 2008 and 2009, according to WDIV-TV4 in Detroit. … more

Time to End Corporate Welfare

Published on March 8, 2011

A New York Daily News columnist cites Michael LaFaive, director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, in a column today calling for an end to corporate welfare. … more

New Film Subsidy Study Doesn't Show Full Picture

Published on Feb. 22, 2011

A new study that claims Michigan receives an economic benefit from its film subsidy program has come under fire, according to statewide media reports. … more

LaFaive Invited to Testify Before Senate Finance Committee on Repeal of Michigan Business Tax

Published on Feb. 9, 2011

Michael LaFaive, director of the Center's Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, testified today before the state Senate Finance Committee on the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax. You can read his full testimony here. … more

'Hire Michigan' Won't Increase Hiring in Michigan

Published on Feb. 1, 2011

Proposed legislation that would offer subsidies to companies the state contracts with if those companies hire Michigan-based workers would increase costs, Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFaive told WEYI-TV25. … more

Politicized Resource Allocation Yields Lackluster U.S., Michigan Recoveries

By Jack McHugh, published on Jan. 26, 2011

Government misallocation and central planning in the guise of “industrial policy” have also been significant contributors to Michigan’s lost decade and, until we were joined by the rest of the country in 2008, our chronic “single state recession.” … more

LaFaive: SOTU 'Granholm-esque' in Parts

Published on Jan. 26, 2011

Mike LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told The Saginaw News that President Obama’s State of the Union speech reminded him of Gov. Granholm. … more

'Book Him!': Michigan Film Subsidy Scandal Leads to More Charges

By Michael D. LaFaive, published on Jan. 26, 2011

A scandal first exposed by the Mackinac Center last June has led to a second set of felony fraud charges. … more

Film Subsidy Program Just 'Good PR'

Published on Jan. 22, 2011

Mike LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told National Public Radio that Michigan’s film subsidy program is only a way for politicians to buy “good PR,” but the program is “symbolism over substance.” … more

Projections vs. Reality

By Jarrett Skorup, published on Dec. 20, 2010

Gov. Granholm's 'Mighty Wind' More a Light Breeze

By Russ Harding, published on Nov. 24, 2010

Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently wrote an article for the Huffington Post titled “A Mighty Wind,” in which she credits Michigan’s renewable energy standard of 2008 — which requires 10 percent of energy produced by the major utilities in the state come from renewable sources — for revitalizing the state’s economy. … more

Unity Studios: Whose Unhappy Ending?

By Kathy Hoekstra, published on Nov. 17, 2010

It appears likely the starry-eyed promise of Hollywood has left the taxpayers of Allen Park with quite the handful of overpriced real estate. … more

Tear Down This 'Film Industry' Facade

By Michael D. LaFaive, published on Nov. 16, 2010

Ending the handouts would send a signal that this state is done playing games with ephemeral and failed "economic development" programs, and instead will focus on a real economic growth agenda, including across-the-board tax relief, labor law changes and other regulatory reforms. … more

Wishful Reporting of Governor’s Investment Missions

By James M. Hohman, published on Nov. 12, 2010

In Gov. Jennifer Granholm's weekly radio address, she ballyhoos her investment missions abroad by claiming that they're responsible for creating or retaining 20,000 Michigan jobs. Unfortunately, she continues to mistake job announcements for job creation. … more

Sen. Cassis's 'Going Away Present' to Taxpayers

By Jack McHugh, published on Nov. 9, 2010

Sen. Cassis, R-Novi, will leave the Legislature at the end of this year due to term limits, and last week she delivered a "going away present" to Michigan taxpayers in the form of a four-bill package eliminating the state's worst corporate welfare abuses. … more

Trimming Ethanol Subsidies Early Test for New GOP Congress and Michigan Legislature

By Jack McHugh, published on Nov. 8, 2010

Columnist Tim Carney observes in the Washington Examiner that whether or not they trim ethanol subsidies will provide an early test for how serious Republicans in Washington are about reducing the cost, size and intrusiveness of government. The same applies here in Michigan. … more

A 19th Century Solution to a 21st Century Issue

By Jarrett Skorup, published on Oct. 15, 2010

Detroit's current "light rail" system has been called a "Horizontal Elevator to Nowhere" and the "least cost-effective transit project in the last 20 years." So what's the response to this epic disaster of central planning from the political class? To build more, of course. … more

Green Investments Yield Little ‘Green’

By Jarrett Skorup, published on Oct. 15, 2010

Bailout Wal-Mart?

By Jarrett Skorup, published on Oct. 12, 2010

Poor Subsidizing Rich to Buy New Cars

By Russ Harding, published on Oct. 8, 2010

When most people talk about the government redistributing wealth, it involves money being taken from those who have more and being given to those who have less, such as with entitlement programs.
That has taken a new twist that few would have predicted with lavish government subsidies for purchasing electric vehicles. … more

Government Subsidy Deal Off for Competitor to Lansing Restaurant Owners

By Jack McHugh, published on Oct. 7, 2010

Existing, home-grown restaurant owners in the area — who pay their taxes in full and get no special privileges from the government — are no doubt relieved that they won't have to compete with a politically favored and subsidized outsider. … more

Bad Week for Michigan Corporate Welfare Machine

By Jack McHugh, published on Oct. 1, 2010

On Thursday the plug was officially pulled on a monumentally hyped film endeavor in Allen Park called "Unity Studios." There were no press releases from the Governor's office or the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announcing the evaporation of the mirage. … more

Media Reporting on MEGA Investigation

Published on Sept. 30, 2010

WNEW-TV5 in Saginaw reports that questions have been raised regarding an "alleged preferential tax deal" involving the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and GlobalWatt Inc. … more

Broken Windows on Display in Michigan Senate Finance Committee

By James M. Hohman, published on Sept. 22, 2010

Mark Adler, a lobbyist for the Michigan Production Alliance, and Carrie Jones, the director of the Michigan Film Office, defended the state's film subsidy program in a Senate Finance Committee meeting today. To do so they employed a long-recognized economic fallacy, the "Broken Window" theory, which only considers economic activity that is "seen" while ignoring unseen economic costs. … more

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