Job creation is a noble pursuit that’s best left to the private sector. Instead, the trend is toward increased government involvement in speculative private-sector projects with no guarantee of return on taxpayers’ investment.

If there’s a silver lining in the debacle called Mississippi Beef Processors, it could be the wakeup call to overzealous state legislators to stay out of direct job-creation ventures and stick to what government is equipped to do: Offer a friendly regulatory and taxation climate that allows the free market to prosper. Job creation will then take care of itself.



The Yalobusha County plant, which was started with state money, operated for only three months in 2004. Its abrupt closing left the state holding a $43.5 million bill on a defaulted loan and 400 people without jobs. The cost to taxpayers has grown to nearly $55 million with maintenance costs, grants and consulting fees.

Mississippi Beef Processors President Richard N. Hall Jr. pleaded guilty last week to federal and state corruption charges, and authorities say the investigation is continuing.

The beef plant fiasco should give state legislators pause on investing in Project Wellspring, an industrial megasite that Northeast Mississippi leaders hope will lure an automaker to the region. While we’re not suggesting anything corrupt about that endeavor, the fact is that it’s purely speculative in nature and an inappropriate investment of tax dollars, especially the $14.5 million that backers want the state to pony up.