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Dollar figures touted by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in her State of the State address last week came from a study about the supposed benefits of tourism subsidies that is not yet complete.
Gov. Granholm said that the state gets $2.23 back for every dollar it spends on advertising through the "Pure Michigan" campaign. That information came from a report that won't be finished for another month, according to the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.
Mike LaFaive, director of the Center's Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told the Livingston Daily that releasing such information without the full study is uncommon.
"Normally, a scholarly study will include references to all of its sources," he told the paper.
LaFaive has written here and here about why state subsidies for private enterprise such as tourism do not work.
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