Entitlements

Sounds like a broken record at this point but Hollywood South is just one big corporate entitlement.

The program is certainly popular and fun. It draws movie stars to our midst, attracts good publicity and puts locals to work.

But it’s also distorting, and not just in the way that Petal and Smith were able to so easily exploit.

Their crime would not have been possible if the program didn’t provide tax credits to moguls who don’t even accrue tax liability in the state, a situation that creates a separate marketplace to buy those credits and sell them to locals who do owe taxes; that’s what Petal’s company, LIFT Productions, was set up to do.

In fact, it’s distorting to refer to the payouts as tax credits at all because the state often just cuts checks to players that exceed their tax bills.

Subsidies is more like it, and generous ones at that.

I don't know exactly who Grace thinks it's "fun" for, though. It's probably not fun for the university system.