Cronyism:

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development gave roughly $1.8 million in tax abatements to Amazon.com last month, describing it as part of an “incentive” for the company to place a new fulfillment center in southern Nevada. The problem, however, is that Amazon needed to come to Las Vegas regardless of tax incentives, as it’s a necessary part of the strategy the company had publicly laid out months ago to its shareholders. (Read more)

Business:

Faraday Future says it will unveil a prototype of its first production car at the CES 2017 trade show in Las Vegas next month — despite the fact that executives of the company have described it as “running out of cash.” Faraday even had to shut down the construction of its factory north of Las Vegas, despite an agreement from the state that would have allowed for nearly $300 million in tax incentives. According to former executives with the company, the struggling would-be automaker’s first vehicle is expected to be a large electric sedan, with a price tag of $150,000 – $200,000. (Read more)

Fiscal and taxes:

The United States tax code is becoming even more complex. In 2016 the IRS added 7.7 million words of tax regulation to help “clarify” Title 26 of the US Code — which itself stands at almost 75,000 pages. In addition to this massive amount of regulatory language, another 60,000 pages of case law are associated with the code. Is it any wonder that complying with the tax code costs the American economy around $1 trillion annually? (Read more)

Federal lands:

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he has selected Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a former Navy SEAL, to be the next interior secretary. Zinke has a long track record of leadership and independence. Unfortunately, Zinke is staunchly opposed to the Republican Party’s stated goal of returning federal lands to the states, saying instead all that is needed is “better management.” (Read more)

Education:

If parental satisfaction is any indication, traditional assigned-district public schools “may be an endangered species,” according to a new report from Education Next. The report shows that parents, unsurprisingly, are most satisfied with their child’s education when they have a larger say in where their child is educated. The private sector received the highest levels of satisfaction from parents, followed by charter schools and then programs that allow genuine choice within public school districts. (Read more)