NEW YORK: The authorization of the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank expired on June 30. Taxpayers can thus celebrate the demise of one of our most offensive corporate welfare programs. Unfortunately corporate welfare programs often prove as hard to kill as Jason from the Friday the 13th movies. Washington politicians are currently working to bring the Ex-Im back to life for a sequel.
The Ex-Im Bank was created during the Great Depression to boost our exports. The Bank does so primarily through loans and loan guarantees to foreign companies to use to purchase American products. Many groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, claim that the Ex-Im Bank is good for business.
Proponents like to point to the thousands of small businesses helped by the Bank, but America has over a million small businesses. Over a recent five year span, the Ex-Im directly supported less than half of one percent of U.S. small businesses.
Delta Airlines attributed a loss of 7,500 jobs to competition funded by American tax dollars. Finally, the taxes to pay for the Ex-Im cost our economy jobs. Programs like the Ex-Im Bank must ultimately prove futile in growing our economy. Taxing Americans to subsidize foreigners to buy our products can only provide a façade of prosperity.
