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The federal government is investing in solar. Chinese companies are getting a share of it.

Feb 7, 2024
Chinese manufacturers are building solar panel factories on U.S. soil to avoid tariffs and garner subsidies, reports WSJ's Phred Dvorak.
Subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act are meant to offset some of the costs of manufacturing solar panels in the United States.
Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via Getty Images

Farmers in Germany protest subsidy cuts with tractor blockades

Jan 9, 2024
Farmers across Germany are continuing a weeklong protest of the government's plan to revoke key economic and agricultural tax policies by blocking major roads and highways across the country.
Farmers use their tractors to block access to a train station on Jan. 8, in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Craig Stennett/Getty Image

Higher subsidies drive record ACA enrollment

Nov 9, 2023
The government has extended pandemic-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act marketplace until 2025 — and even higher-income families are eligible.
Just about everyone looking for an ACA plan is eligible for a higher subsidy than before, said Vivian Ho at Rice University.
Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

"Made in America" policy can actually hurt the U.S., economist says

Adam Posen agrees with the goals of boosting green energy and keeping China at bay. But he says protectionism won't achieve them.
One example of industrial policy is subsidies for companies doing work in clean energy, like the kind that the Inflation Reduction Act provides.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

How a tax credit to boost minority hiring became a gift to temp agencies

Sep 6, 2022
Workers may not be the biggest beneficiaries of the work opportunity tax credit, says ProPublica investigative reporter Emily Corwin.
A woman waits for a job at a temporary employment agency in North Dakota. ProPublica's Emily Corwin discusses the work opportunity tax credit's benefits for temp agencies and the persistent lack of solutions for workers.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Truce on Airbus/Boeing subsidies lets sides focus on emerging competitor

Jun 15, 2021
U.S.-EU pact suspends punitive tariffs and could spur collaboration to fend off Chinese expansion in the commercial aircraft industry.
Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images

The U.K. has a plan to pay businesses that hire young people

Businesses get about $2,000 for every six-month placement they provide for the unemployed.
The goal is to create around 300,000 jobs and help train these entry-level workers. Pictured: U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak at a Jobcentre Plus in London.
Anthony Upton-WPA Pool/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Nike pulls a shoe, so Arizona pulls Nike subsidies

Jul 2, 2019
Government incentives and politics don't always mix.
Nike canceled the sale of a sneaker with a Betsy Ross flag on its heel. That flag’s been co-opted by far-right groups.  Above, a Nike store in 2017 in New York City.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Pennsylvania weighs nuclear subsidies after Three Mile Island

May 20, 2019
The nuclear power plant will be "retired" at the end of September, but the state wants to support the four remaining plants.
Steam rises out of the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island  in Middletown, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2019.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

Congress closes in on a final farm bill

Dec 12, 2018
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have reached a bipartisan agreement on a nearly $900 billion bill. To get there, House Republicans backed off demands to increase work requirements for people receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill could come up for a vote this week.