St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann recently proposed that the East-West Gateway Council of Governments study whether local governments get their money’s worth when they give economic incentives to developers.

The council agreed, and as it happens, there’s a deal in the…

Clayton and the city of St. Louis were not alone in vying to become home to a new headquarters for Centene Corp., the health benefits manager that is now pursuing a $211 million project in Clayton.

In the same quarter that Centene…

For decades, Clayton held firm against the grand fleecing of taxpayers that is the business-incentives game. Now even Clayton has thrown in the towel. Clayton officials say they had no choice, that Centene Corp. is too big to lose.

The game goes…

Check out these headlines from the Post-Dispatch:
• “Tight credit may have economy in death grip”
• “Housing starts dip to five-year low”
• “Scared bankers could worsen economic woes”
Those sound like today’s headlines, but they’re not. They’re from 1990 and 1991, the…

The Ballpark Village set back was reported while I was still in Dayton, Ohio.

But even from a vantage 360 miles away (or, perhaps, especially so) one could wonder: Shouldn’t the public have some voice in where firms such as Centene…