Michigan has tried a few different approaches to help create jobs in the state. 

One strategy has been increasing taxes to create government jobs in education, health care, or for park maintenance. Another includes giving corporations subsidies, and tasking them with hiring more people. 

But this corporate subsidy tactic isn’t the bang for the buck legislators expected.

According to a recent report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank, corporations that received subsidies to create jobs in Michigan only created 9% of the jobs they said they would from 2000 to 2020. That’s only one job for every 11 jobs created. 

To discuss this discrepancy, Metro Producer Sam Corey sat down with Director of Fiscal Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy James Hohman, who helps provide context for why legislators give money to corporations to create jobs even though they often don’t come to be.

Hear more stories from The Metro on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025.

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