The Brunswick News
Friday, April 10. 2026
LETTERS
Industrial policy, public health, and the environment
Published commentary on U.S. industrial policy, based on a 2026 World Bank report, has raised interesting points but leaves several important implications unexamined.
Proponents of capitalism may be reluctant to acknowledge the disruptive, wealth-concentrating effects of public policy – both state and federal – that favors certain industries with tax-credits and subsidies. Well-substantiated examination of government industrial policy reveals blatant inconsistencies with commonly heard claims about “free markets.”
Nationwide data analyzed by Center for a Sustainable Coast indicates U.S. subsidies for energy, agriculture, technology, and transportation amounting to nearly a trillion dollars annually. Although this tally omits billions in government contracts, public financial incentives substantially alter market outcomes that would result if transactions were made without them.
In its 2026 report, the World Bank switched from supporting open markets to encouraging populist government intervention, rationalized by concerns for national security or protecting “strategic” industries and manipulating competition. The arbitrary, reckless nature of this rationalization is epitomized by reversal of clean-energy policy and inadequate policy controls on datacenters.
While Georgians express strong opposition to datacenter projects in their communities, federal and state policies are promoting them. Similarly, as citizens suffer premature death, income-restricting health impairments, and damage to their homes caused by flooding and extreme weather, government policies underwrite industrialization that generates pollution, far worsening these burdens. Concurrently, budgeting rollbacks for EPA, FEMA, and healthcare diminish much-needed public safeguards.
To serve public interest, elected officials must be held accountable for the consequences of economic policies by mandating rigorous, fact-based procedures for evaluating them.
David Kyler
Center for a Sustainable Coast