Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's main proposal for reviving the storm-stricken Gulf Coast has a history of failing to deliver on the promise of prosperity.
The Gulf Opportunity Zone that Bush outlined in a national address from New Orleans on Sept. 15 is the latest version of a Reagan-era idea for using tax breaks and other incentives to revitalize blighted urban areas. Backers of enterprise zones -- mainly Republicans, though they were also supported by Democratic President Bill Clinton -- argue that jobs and economic growth will flow into such areas.
In the two decades since such initiatives have come into widespread use, researchers have found little evidence they work very well. Critics say the main beneficiaries often aren't the people the zones are designed to aid, but businesses that end up with tax incentives for investments they would have made anyway.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/economy/politics.html
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