| Interesting, But Repetitive (Phoenix, AZ.) July 1, 2005 - 3.0/5 stars LeRoy... |
Money-Employment-Careers Best Sellers
Books, eBooks & Other Information Products |
Money-Employment.Marc8.com
Sat February 18, 2012 |
|
|
|||
| Book - Customer Review:7
The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation Greg Leroy 
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Rank: 4645 (Phoenix, AZ.) July 1, 2005 - 3.0/5 stars LeRoy reports that job scams cost governments about $50 billion per year in lost revenues. The most common scams include: 1)Create a bogus competitor (another town or state) vs. wherever the company wanted to locate in the first place. The intent is to create a "bidding war" over the freebies offered. 2)Job "blackmail" in which a company threatens to move (or locate elsewhere) unless it gets the subsidies/tax relief it wants. Easily enhanced by overestimating the job increase - LeRoy cited examples from Connecticut in which only 9% of forecasted jobs materialized, leading to a cost of $367,910 per new job. Exaggerations are typically followed up by failure to track or publish actual results. 3)Entice a firm that pays "poverty" wages, and stick the taxpayers with hidden costs (eg. employee and family healthcare). Wal-Mart is the most notable example. 4)Exaggerate "ripple effect" benefits - eg. the number of supplier jobs, and those created by employee spending. (LeRoy cited an example where one city used a low multiplier to downplay jobs lost when a company left, and a high multiplier to play up the potential gain from another moving in.) 5)"Bust the union" in which the company uses Federal funding (eg. CDBG grants from HUD) to move, and thereby break an existing union. Obviously any and all these machinations can be combined. Mayor Giuliani was cited as a prolific scam-"victim" - giving up $350 million in tax revenues between '94 - '01. Small wonder N.Y. also ended up with a large deficit. LeRoy points out that "nobody wants to be the mayor/governor who lost ______," and that fear impels leaders and legislatures to succomb. In reality, however, taxes make up only 4-5% of location costs according to a consultant cited, and only 1.2% of total costs according to the IRS. Similarly, convention centers are oversold (overall convention business is DECLINING - thus, new centers being built are extremely unlikely to be financially successful), and sports stadiums. Meanwhile, LeRoy points out that a recent survey of civil engineers found that America's infrastructure needs greater funding. (My life as a truck-driver provides daily evidence of substantial repairs and enhancements need for our Interstates.) The "bad news" with this book, like many others, is that to justify book printing, it ended up considerably longer than necessary - at least 2X, and probably 3X.
Customer Review: 7 of 7
« Prev Customer Review
|
All Customer Reviews(7)
|
Next Customer Review »
Editorials(8) | Product Info | Product Listings Customer ReviewsThe Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation Greg Leroy Customer Review
5 - 7 of 7
EditorialsSample 3 of 8The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation Greg Leroy
Top 10 Best Selling Money-Employment Book Categories
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||