Incentives of various types are widely offered to encourage and promote economic development – a point of competition and controversy in a years-long “border war” between Missouri and Kansas.

The Library and American Public Square examine the pros and cons of the practice in the latest in a series of mannerly discussions of hot-button local issues. When is it appropriate to use public dollars to benefit private business? Who does and should benefit? Are we getting the best return on our dollars?

Panelists are Bill Hall, president of the Hall Family Foundation; University of Missouri-St. Louis political science professor Kenneth Thomas; and Michael Farren, a research fellow in the Project for the Study of American Capitalism at George Mason University. University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Scott Helm moderates.

Co-presented by American Public Square.