Your chart is cute – but you are missing the point entirely on a much more basic level: supply and demand. States know that in the long haul THEY will GREATLY profit from the presence of automakers, and thus, are willing to make small subsidies upfront as a way to lure automakers in.

If MO didn’t offer the $150M, someone else would have, and a result the state would have lost far more than $150M in the long-term.

Also, your assertion that Ford will “make billions” from a single vehicle is completely naive, and only further demonstrates your complete lack of understanding of the industry.

You also fail to understand the risk to automakers, and the fact that Ford currently holds OVER $20 billion in debt. Although Ford has had a positive cash flow for five quarters, it, like every automaker, is far from out of the woods.

If the U.S. enters a double-dip recession as many suggest it may, Ford could find itself very easily in an unprofitable state due to the extreme need for a strong economies of scale model. When the economy dips, auto sales are the first to sink, and very quickly a positive $2.6B Q2 can become a negative Q3.