Trump’s jobs bragging was bad business

I was listening to economist Richard D. Wolff the other day on KFCF 88.1 talking about how the state of Wisconsin is creating 3,000 new jobs. The CEO of Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that builds electronics parts, was at the White House where President Trump was doing a photo op showing how he is making America great again. A new factory is going to be built in Wisconsin.

However, as Mr. Wolff pointed out, the state of Wisconsin is giving the company $3 billion in tax breaks. If the state of Wisconsin spent $3 billion creating jobs, it could create 60,000 excellent paying $50,000 jobs for the people in Wisconsin to do things like improve infrastructure, build parks, improve schools, etc.

And that money would stay in the state, where its citizens would spend it locally and improve the economy. Instead, it will be going to a Taiwanese company that will take its profits out of the country.

Let’s see, 3,000 jobs where the profits go out of the country vs. 60,000 excellent-paying jobs where the money stays local. That is not my idea of making American great.

This story was originally published August 10, 2017 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Trump’s jobs bragging was bad business."