Alva Review-Courier -

Too often, government officials assess the effectiveness of “economic development” like the guy who brags about winning $100 on a scratch-off ticket after spending $1,000 on the lottery. But this approach ignores the true cost.

Such is the case with corporate welfare as highlighted by the failure of “Project Ocean.” Advanced by officials this year, the project was a nearly $700 million corporate-welfare program. But even lavish subsidies failed to attract Panasonic. We all need to understand why.

It’s not because Oklahoma’s proposal was too modest, although Kansas apparently offered as much as...