The state is giving Hollywood-based Warner Bros. $35 million of Michigan taxpayers’ money to film parts of its new Batman/Superman movie here. It will be a follow-up to “Man of Steel,” which so far has grossed more than $600 million worldwide.
“Lawmakers and others are blinded by the glitz and glam of Hollywood when they consider this public policy,” Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told The Daily Caller.
Those who support film subsidies claim that an economic multiplier increases the impact of money spent by movie makers, but they fail to account for the negative impact that occurs when taxpayers aren’t able to spend their own money in some other fashion.
“If you were to factor the cost of the subsidy into the equation, it would be zero if not negative impact,” LaFaive said.
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