Golden age of grifting

The new opportunity zone rules are deliberately designed to spawn thousands of ineffectual and unaccountable tax shelters.

While the scheme is attracting investors, some observers worry that it won't do much for the really depressed neighborhoods that were supposed to be the focus of the policy. They fear a disproportionate amount of OZ investment will be directed at real estate and not toward higher-risk, job-creating investments in the neediest zones.

If the policy goal is to inflate the price of real estate in the targeted neighborhoods with no tangible benefit to anyone but the "investors" parking money there, then this is the way to do it. Expect a land rush.

Cullan Maumus, an executive with the New Orleans Redevelopment Fund, a private-sector property developer in New Orleans, said his firm has been getting 50 to 100 inquiries from potential investors every day since the regulations were clarified.