NBC10 Wingmen: How does RI do economic development in the wake of 38 Studios?

There’s so much to criticize about the 38 Studios disaster. The concentrated power of the speaker of the House. The unwillingness of rank and file legislators, a supposedly very pro-business Republican governor and some of the most respected local business leaders of this generation to challenge – or even question – that power. Michael Corso’s business model. The list is long.

Bill Rappleye, Jon Brien and I chose to discuss on NBC10 Wingmen the future of economic development in the wake of the worst investment the Ocean State will hopefully ever make.

I say state’s need to ween themselves off the practice of paying businesses to relocate or stay in place. To my mind, this is a legal form of extortion that businesses use to increase their profit margin at the expense of the rest of society. Jon and Bill both think the idea of ending tax breaks is inconceivable, but I counter that CVS’s decision to stop selling tobacco products is evidence that big business is starting to learn that social justice and a moral compass have value in the marketplace as well.

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