“Numbers Don’t Lie… People Do”

From the Detroit People's Platform NEWS #22NEWSpaper

“Numbers Don’t Lie… People Do” announced the head of the DEGC, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation whose team didn’t bring the numbers needed to back up their claims. The statement was made at a recent DEGC hosted event. If jobs are the justification for tax incentives bring jobs data that you can back up. 

Detroiters understand enough to know that capitalism is an economic model that is driven by profit and that it is one of many potential models. Detroiters also understand that there are shades of capitalism, some that are mutually beneficial and some that take more than they give. The majority of Detroiters understand economics extremely well but they do not share the same language as businesses and corporations.

Often, we have seen proponents of this economic development model miss the point entirely and turn Detroiters lack of awareness about how tax incentives work against them. Really, Detroiters shouldn’t have to educate ourselves about tax incentives, we should be able to count on the city council and others to do their research and make decision that lead to better outcomes for Detroiters. 

This Special Report by Detroit People’s Platform NEWS assumes Detroiters lived experience is more than enough to justify the outrage and opposition around the use of tax incentives. Here we hope to offer some tools and resources to support Detroiters already righteous opposition. The economic THEORIES that support tax incentives are just that. Time and time again, research shows that incentivized private projects with public funds and resources hurt communities and cities. Here in Detroit all we have to do is look around and see how uneven the results of 8 years of “the only way possible” has gotten us.

People's Platform NEWS Vol. 22, July 2022