Are [Government Funded]Incentives Smart Business or Race to the Bottom?

Of course, all this begs the question: Do these incentives do any good to develop the economy? The theory behind incentives is that by paying for jobs, the state/county will create more jobs, which will create more tax revenues. But advocates and some economists dismiss the practice as a zero-sum game where states and municipalities are played against each other, in the process lowering the quality of life for both communities.