Practical definition: Poach

Posted by Marc Hodak on June 14, 2009 under Practical definitions | Read the First Comment

The WSJ headline is: “Southern States Poach Business Amid Downturn”

Kind of conjures up some southern hick with a shotgun sneaking up on someone’s farm, and leading away some cattle in the dead of night.

It doesn’t seem to conjure up decades of rustbelt politicians sucking the life out of their businesses with ever-increasing taxes, and workplace regulations flowing from their capitals like topsy. It doesn’t evoke geographic and jurisdictional competition, with entrepreneurs and corporate managers coolly poring over spreadsheets deciding where to invest their scarce capital.

Would a southern newspaper use the word “poach” to describe competition for capital in this context? I don’t think so. It used to be that you could expect such anti-business wordsmithing from the New York Times. But we see just as well on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Bubba said,

Hey y’all. We’re just down here looking for some more of your businesses to lasso and pull down south of the Macy-Dixy line. Yep, we’ve got a bead on your factories and banks and all those fine jobs. And y’all don’t forget to come on down for a visit, OK? We like your tourist dollars, too. You don’t have to pay those union rates to have sweet tea and mint juleps delivered to your chair on the veranda. Hurry on down, hear?