Retail stores are not economic development, just as dog food is not a dog.

Look at it this way: The more dogs you own, the more dog food you'll need. Buying more dog food in and of itself is not going to bring you more dogs.

By the same token, real economic development involves getting companies or manufacturers to move into a community, provide more wealth and jobs, which attract an influx of people. Once they are in place, retailers will naturally follow, bringing the goods and food that the new residents want to buy. When cities use tax incentives to lure retailers into their borders, they are on a fool's errand.

And that's why a bill sponsored by Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, which in its latest form would slap a one-year moratorium on the use of RDAs for retail projects, is a good idea. It ought to be a permanent ban, but that may not be politically feasible at the moment.

The bill also would prohibit the use of tax-increment money to build sports stadiums, such as the one the soccer team Real Salt Lake wants to build. This is another sound idea. Professional sports teams are small businesses, usually employing only a handful of full-time workers. They are not nearly the economic engines their supporters claim them to be, and they should not be eligible for tax incentives.

Bramble's bill, as refreshing as it is, tackles only one of the reasons why Utah's cities are in a mad scramble to lure big-box retailers from each other. The bigger reason lies in the state's tax structure. Cities get to keep half of all the sales-tax money that is generated within their borders, and that is a powerful incentive for them to do whatever it takes so that they, and not their neighbors, get the next strip mall. Until lawmakers change that formula, distributing sales taxes primarily by population, cities aren't likely to change.

To be clear, no retailer or existing company should be blamed for accepting these deals. As a point of disclosure, this newspaper is a partner in a new printing press in West Valley City that is benefiting from RDA money. This is, rather, a systemic problem. Taken to its extreme, the fight over retail can have some ugly consequences.

In Ogden, about 50 people recently staged a protest over plans to condemn homes and businesses to make room for a new Wal-Mart. According to the Associated Press, the city says it needs to rip property out of the hands of individuals and hand it to the retail giant because of the jobs and sales-tax money it will generate.

Clearly, that kind of madness has to stop.