Industrial policy is back: Inflation Reduction Act-style incentives in the United States, Canada’s investment tax credits and provincial deals, and EU state-aid frameworks for net-zero industry. The citizen question is whether promised jobs, wages, and net fiscal returns materialise.
Governments publish announcement-day job figures; fewer publish binding clawback terms and annual outcome dashboards in machine-readable form. That asymmetry favours politics over accountability.
A press release is not a performance bond.
Minimum scorecard: committed public $ / private $; jobs (FTEs) by year; average wages vs. local median; clawbacks triggered; independent audit date.
Trade-offs are real: strategic supply chains versus opportunity cost against housing or tax relief. Our lean meter marks framing when pieces emphasise industrial strategy versus fiscal opportunity cost — this article argues for disclosure either way.
