But some ideas make so little economic sense that even the largest corporate subsidy ever awarded by a state government isn't enough.
Then-President Donald Trump, for example, predicted in 2018 that the planned factory on the outskirts of Milwaukee would be nothing less than "the eighth wonder of the world.".
In filings with the state, Foxconn says it now plans to employ 1,454 people and invest about $672 million into its still-under-construction factory in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
That's a long way from the $10 billion that the company initially promised to spend building a plant that would have employed 13,000 workers.
But recovering those subsidies won't bring back the residential neighborhood that was flattened to make space for the factory.
The enormous "Gen 10.5" LCD factory specified in the contract became a far smaller Gen 6, then was canceled, then came back.
The factory, he said in 2018, was evidence that his policies were "reclaiming our country's proud manufacturing legacy.". »
