Trump and the Economy

[ex-khobar Andy]

Foxconn promised 13,000 jobs to Wisconsin and got $3 billion in tax breaks to do so. Trump and Scott Walker (former Wisc governor) might have mentioned it in passing once or twice.

So far they haven't materialized and Foxconn (aptly named, don't you think? A 'fox' is a devious sly animal which is designed to rip the guts out of their guileless fellow fauna; and a 'conn' is - well we all know one when we see one) has done nothing but backpedal since the original fol-de-rol. The panels they promised to make are smaller now (= fewer employees) and the planned building - originally 25,000,000 square feet or close to a square mile - is now planned to be about one fifth of that.

Kevin Vonck, development director for Foxconn's Green Bay site, tells WPR that the company is now "re-evaluating their strategy throughout the state." The Green Bay location, which was originally supposed to open in 2018, could open sometime in 2020, he says.

That's about par for the course. When former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) agreed to give more than $3 billion in subsidies to Foxconn, he promised that "working families would reap the benefits." President Donald Trump, who flew to Wisconsin last June to participate in a ceremonial groundbreaking for the plant, said the project was an example of "reclaiming our country's proud manufacturing legacy."

Instead, it's been an excellent lesson in why such crony capitalist deals are a hugely expensive mistake. Foxconn is already failing on its other promises. While the company originally pledged to create 5,200 jobs by the end of 2020, Foxconn said earlier this year that the actual number would be about 1,000.

The Fart of the Deal, indeed.

[Scooter]

[Econoline]

[ex-khobar Andy]

I don't like kicking a man when he's down but I'll make an exception in this case.

For all those who bleat "Promises made, promises kept" - you need to see read this piece in The Verge.

Foxconn was, as its name implies, a con. Wisconsin promised $3 billion (it's not clear - some of that may have been federal funds) to build a factory which would create 13,000 jobs. Originally these would have been manufacturing jobs - the initial 'plan' was to build LCD screens - but it migrated to an R&D center. Note that $3 billion divided by 13,000 is around $230,000 per job. They did in the end hire a few hundred people around the end of 2019 in order to qualify for some taxpayer goodies - these guys sat around playing with their phones until they got fed up with the non-job and left or were fired. Trump called this development the eighth wonder of the world.

State and local governments spent at least $400 million, largely on land and infrastructure Foxconn will likely never need. Residents were pushed from their homes under threat of eminent domain and dozens of houses bulldozed to clear property Foxconn doesn’t know what to do with

Trump is headed for the exit; Walker (Wisc governor at the time) is already gone. They won't get the $3 billion of course but plenty of people lost their homes.

But they nearly fooled enough people to get Trump in for a second term. The real cost of this sort of criminal activity - and yes, I think Trump and Walker's conduct was criminally negligent - is incalculable.