Economic Development: Scant Payoff

The budget vise squeezing states and cities is changing the economic-development game. Governments are attaching more strings to their offers of tax breaks, cheap rents and bond deals designed to lure business, and are getting tougher on past recipients who didn't come through. Officials fret that taxpayers will look askance on any giveaways to business that don't yield a clear benefit, at a time when governments are paring services to save money.