Most economic development programs follow a similar pattern. Typically, governments offer a mix of tax breaks, exclusions, and fewer regulations in the hopes of enticing new investments to economically distressed communities. The new federal opportunity-zone program, established by the US Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of December 2017, also follows that model. In this case, the government hopes that a lower effective capital-gains tax will lure investor capital to projects in approximately 8,700 economically disadvantaged US census tracts.1
