2/26 Friday 10 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
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fordham urban law journal spring symposium 2021
A Taxing War on Poverty: Opportunity Zones and the Promise of Investment and Economic Development
Following the 2008 Great Recession, general economic uncertainty and anxiety enveloped the United States but was more acutely felt in specific pockets of the nation. Severely distressed areas across the country suffered from severe unemployment, low levels of and declines in public investment, and the lack of infrastructural improvements and access to private capital. The seemingly localized adverse effects ultimately spilled over into the national economy. Responding to this economic despair, Congress believed it drafted a provision to remedy the uneven economic recovery in the United States: Opportunity Zones (OZs). These are low-income census tracts that lure private investment through private opportunity zone funds (OZFs), which reward investors with tax deferrals, reductions, and exclusions. Since its inception, states have designated nearly 9,000 OZs across the nation in hopes of bringing economic growth to “blighted” areas. Alongside professors, attorneys, scholars, economists, investors, and advocates, the Symposium will explore what OZs are, the reasons for persistent gaps in access to capital in distressed areas, private-sector investment motivations, and the misnomers and shortcomings of OZs, as well as the possibilities of equitable or sustainable economic development.
• also, 3/16 columbia gsapp lectures in planning series, “Opportunity Zones: A Baseline Evaluation in West Baltimore”
