Although tax-credit areas cost $400 million, no one can prove they work
"(The zones) can be a stabilizing force," said Raphael Bostic, a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Planning, Policy and Development. "These incentives can make it easier for existing businesses, if they know about the credits, to survive and produce. So I wouldn't say that just because they're not inducing a whole lot of new jobs, that it's necessarily a failure."
Bostic said it's likely the benefits are reaching their intended targets - businesses and workers in poor areas - but perhaps not efficiently. "Many of the jobs are being taken advantage of by McDonald's and other fast-food places," Bostic said. "I don't know if those are exactly the kind of jobs that are envisioned. But at some level, employment is employment."