[untog]

That's the theory, yes. But there have been a number of times when that has not worked out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/us/how-local-taxpayers-ban...

“Even where officials do track incentives, they acknowledge that it is impossible to know whether the jobs would have been created without the aid.”

[mendort]

Oh my goodness. We can't know what causes of a phenomenon are simply by observing it? Stop the presses.

[untog]

I suspected I shouldn't have copy and pasted that quote because everyone would react to it and not, say, the comprehensive report on the subject we're talking about that I linked to.

The point is that governments are throwing money at companies without really having any idea if it is a good idea. The data is - at best - unclear.