Competition, as everyone knows, is a valued and essential component to a successful capitalist system. The broader the competition, the more likely the consumer will have the option to buy the most effective and efficient product at the lowest possible price.
Yet, competition is not always a good thing. As long as producers are competing with each other for the consumer, the consumer, more than not, will benefit. But, when producers are competing with their consumers, there’s a problem. Take for instance the asinine incentive packages for large companies and the liberal usage of eminent domain.
The growing tragedy of both instances pits local citizens against interested companies seeking new domicile. In the former case, taxpayers are subsidizing the interested company at the expense of other competing businesses who are not receiving the incentives. In the latter, companies essentially usurp the taxpaying landowners’ private property. If a company either receives incentives or utilizes eminent domain, they in effect are competing with local citizens.
But, this competition is so heavily slanted towards the company that the competition becomes coercion. For this we can thank the government. It is the government that provides the incentives packages, and it is the government that cries eminent domain. Whether it is through incentives or eminent domain, the government hides behind the venire of public good, which includes jobs, aesthetics, or a higher tax income.
Keep your eyes peeled for future (ab)uses of eminent domain and incentives. Also featured in this list are TIFs.
