Perhaps you are being a bit cynical? There are certainly no problems that can't be solved by giving more money to government initiatives like the MaRS Centre in Ontario. These institutions also create jobs and are businesses of a certain sort, so funding them is supporting business directly.
And who can argue with the results? Several promising entrepreneurs each year take advantage of these critical programs to consult with pro-business advisers who assist in job creation by recommending they apply for 3k tax breaks.
If people can improve their economic performance so much with just a small cash grant then, why haven't businesses jumped in on this apparently incredible opportunity? Seems like a great chance for businesses to make some money in tandem with people reaching their potential.
Naturally it would be much better for businesses to do this than the government. Businesses have much higher motivations to use their money wisely (i.e. give the right amount to the right people and create the right incentives to ensure people are motivated to use the funds wisely, go bankrupt or get sued by investors if they spend poorly) than a government (which just gets to shrug or inflate the currency or embark on a fresh round of vilifying productive citizens).
Oh wait, don't we already have that? Bank loans or something, I don't know, lol.
It's literally the gov just giving out money so these companies can keep the doors open and lights on under the guise of 'being in business'. The point is more of a psychological one - to create impression that things are going ok (or not as bad as it seems) at scale across the country.
Grants are dangerous for society, because they encourage private businesses to cooperate with current-term politics, and they take money out of the market. Last year, our federal government gave nearly $400mm to one company expecting the creation of just 1300 jobs. There are federal tax incentives for any company that does essentially anything novel (SRED) and that somewhat works, since acceptance is only conditional on meeting the criteria. Grants are preferential.
Could you give an example of what you mean in the last paragraph? What types of additional government support would help? (Are you talking legal, financing, taxation, reduced paperwork/overhead/fees or other?)
Government almost everywhere, including even places like the US, does however do things like provide tax incentives and subsidies or plan infrastructure improvements in order to shape where businesses choose to locate themselves.
Finn here and i know the game and company and by no means Im not downplaying what you said but; In general - there are quite a few possibilities to apply for grants and similar monetary benefits from the goverment, municipalities and few ngo's here. And as a finn - I would find it actually miraculous that company such as Colossal Order would have never ever benefited from public funding.
No, but we already do. Huge amounts of public money is spent by government on consulting firms, private contractors and industry grants/incentives.
Yet the public doesn't generally consider these firms to be publicly funded organizations, despite taxpayer money being the primary revenue source for many of them.
A successful company will pay back the government many multiples of its investment in the form of corporate and income taxes. Also, financial incentives incentivize entrepreneurs to make the venture successful. Imagine the government taking over the commercialization of the drug...
I know a lot of companies that would not function without this help.
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