The business owner writeoff is really an enticement to encourage investment. And it works. Depreciation is a real cost which we encur. The fact that the government allows it to be written off could be called an entitlement. Mortgage interest is the same concept. Encouraging investment. But I really don't want to debate the intricacies of the tax system.

To answer your question, the benefits recieved by the workers were earned by them. Supply and demand drove that equation.
So the question to your question is: Are government entitlements the same practice through taxes? Less wages, more taxes for more entitlements?