{"id":152970,"date":"2025-10-27T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=152970"},"modified":"2025-10-27T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T16:46:00","slug":"dana-criswell-mississippi-leader-in-economic-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/dana-criswell-mississippi-leader-in-economic-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana Criswell: “Mississippi: Leader in Economic Development”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mississippi has chased \u201ceconomic development\u201d longer than most states. Since the 1930s, our main tactic has been to lure outside companies with tax breaks, special deals, and public money. The targets changed\u2014factories, shipyards, auto plants\u2014but the approach stayed the same: politicians pick winners, taxpayers carry the risk, and the promised jobs often fall short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The record tells a plain story. Big incentive packages make for great ribbon-cuttings, but they rarely lift the whole economy. They tilt the field toward a few large firms and away from the family businesses that create most new jobs. They also drain the treasury. When leaders hand out credits and tax breaks to a handful of companies, everyone else pays more\u2014or local services get cut to make up the difference. Clawbacks sound tough, but they recover little and arrive long after the headlines fade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a better path, and it is boring on purpose: clear rules that apply to everyone. States with low, simple taxes\u2014broad base, modest rates, few exemptions\u2014attract investment without writing checks. When we cut needless licenses and paperwork, more Mississippians can work, start side gigs, and grow into employers. When we protect property rights and due process\u2014tight limits on civil asset forfeiture, predictable enforcement\u2014capital stays put and new capital shows up. When parents can choose schools, skills rise where people live, not just where a corporation parks a plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our habit of one-off deals also warps local politics. City halls become gatekeepers of \u201copportunity.\u201d Companies learn that lobbying can beat competing. The codebook swells with exceptions and carve-outs. Meanwhile, the general business climate gets harder for the folks who don\u2019t have lobbyists. That\u2019s not conservative; it\u2019s favoritism. Pro-business shouldn\u2019t mean pro-favor. It should mean pro-market\u2014one set of rules, fairly enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch where people move. Families move toward places where work is open, rules are stable, and the tax bite is predictable. Entrepreneurs start where they\u2019re trusted to try, fail, and try again without asking permission from a board or chasing a grant. That\u2019s the kind of growth that compounds: a thousand small decisions to invest, hire, and build\u2014made every day by people who know the rules won\u2019t change with the next press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what should Mississippi do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n