Wealth & Money Quote by David Neeleman

He’s puncturing a very American fantasy: that you can subsidize your way into prosperity and call it “economic development.” Neeleman’s language is businesslike, but the knife is in the phrase “phantom money” - a dismissal that frames tax rebates not as real capital but as a spreadsheet mirage that looks impressive until you ask a basic question: profitable for whom, and when?

The intent is managerial clarity disguised as plain talk. By saying “I think they got caught up,” he casts the decision-makers as people intoxicated by the chase rather than grounded in operating reality. It’s a subtle rebuke of civic boosterism and corporate site-selection theater, where cities compete in a bidding war to “win” jobs by giving away future revenue. Neeleman doesn’t deny incentives can matter; he narrows the claim to a conditional: “that stuff works when you make money.” The subtext is that rebates are often treated as revenue itself - a replacement for demand, efficiency, or a sustainable business model - when they only amplify success that already exists.

Contextually, it reads like an operator criticizing a strategy that prioritizes dealmaking over fundamentals. In airline-world (where margins are thin and costs are brutal), “phantom money” is a warning against governance-by-perks: chasing rebates instead of building routes, pricing intelligently, and executing reliably. He’s also signaling credibility. Founders and CEOs gain authority when they sound allergic to gimmicks; it tells investors and the public that he’s interested in real profits, not subsidized headlines.