Free Republic

It now appears that, for the sort of reasons that often count most – political reasons – there is a realistic chance that Michigan’s film subsidy program will end soon. When a bill to put a stop to the subsidies was introduced on Jan. 29, skepticism about its prospects seemed justified. Little more than a month earlier, the Legislature had overwhelmingly passed a measure to keep the program rolling, and Gov. Rick Snyder signed it into law. The idea that the Legislature and governor would reverse course just weeks later seemed far-fetched. But much has changed in the brief period...

According to The Detroit News, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm made a deal with a group of wealthy and politically connected individuals in Oakland County to use state pension funds to guarantee $18 million they borrowed to set up a film studio in Pontiac, essentially making the pension fund the “co-signer” on the loan. The “business model” for this studio was completely dependent on another of Gov. Granholm’s corporate welfare schemes, a subsidy program that paid up to 42 percent of film producers’ Michigan expenses. No reputable economist has ever defended these subsidies, which are pure “political development” programs, not economic...