Bill de Blasio has got it right — though possibly for the wrong reasons. And Chris Christie has got it wrong, though possibly for the right reasons.
We’re talking about special tax deals for businesses and industries, aka corporate welfare.
When asked if New York City would match the $300 million in tax breaks to lure JP Morgan Chase Bank and Royal Bank of Canada to Jersey City, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said Gotham would not try to match it to keep them here.
“This is not a game we’re going to play,” Glen said this week.
We’re happy to hear it, even if the reasoning owes more to an anti-corporate mentality than to the recognition that trying to bribe people to stay in your city or state is a losing proposition.
Our view is that economies will be better served by a system that rewards risks and enterprise.
There are ironies here on both sides of the Hudson.
Mayor de Blasio is certainly right that tax dollars should not go to paying businesses to stay in the city.
But in terms of creating a more business-friendly environment, his tax-and-spending and regulatory proposals are moving the city hard in the other direction.
As for Gov. Christie, while it’s hard to defend hundred-million-dollar breaks for businesses at a time when state finances are in a hole, the governor understands that New Jersey’s future depends on bringing down its crushing tax rates and coming to grips with a pension crisis.
If only New Yorkers and New Jerseyans could each get the best of both: Mayor de Blasio’s hostility to business subsidies and Gov. Christie’s hostility to higher taxes.