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Cities Are Competing to Give Amazon the 'Mother of All Civic Giveaways' (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the please-pick-us dept.

Louise Matsakis, reporting for Motherboard: Amazon announced earlier this month that it was looking to build a second headquarters outside Seattle, where more than 40,000 of the company's more than 380,000 employees currently work. The tech giant is searching for a locale with at least a million people, a diverse population, and excellent schools, among other qualifications. It gave municipalities six weeks -- until October 19 -- to submit a proposal to be chosen. Local governments in more than 100 American and Canadian cities, including places like San Diego, Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit, quickly scrambled to outline why they should be home to Amazon's new corporate office, which is expected to employ up to 50,000 workers. The mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, even made a scripted video for Amazon explaining why the capital should be picked. It featured an Echo, Amazon's smart speaker. But experts who have studied Amazon's business practices say having one of the most tax-allergic corporations in the world come to your hometown might not actually be a good thing.

7 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. New York Times wrote about this last week. by Powys · · Score: 4, Informative

    They figured Denver to be the best spot https://www.nytimes.com/intera...

    1. Re:New York Times wrote about this last week. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      From that article:
      "So Denver it is. The city’s lifestyle and affordability, coupled with the supply of tech talent from nearby universities, has already helped build a thriving start-up scene in Denver and Boulder, 40 minutes away. Big tech companies, including Google, Twitter, Oracle and I.B.M., have offices in the two cities. Denver has been attracting college graduates at an even faster rate than the largest cities. The region has the benefits of places like San Francisco and Seattle — outdoor recreation, microbreweries, diversity and a culture of inclusion (specifically cited by Amazon) — but the cost of living is still low enough to make it affordable, and lots of big-city refugees have been moving there for this reason. Amazon would be smart to follow them."

    2. Re:New York Times wrote about this last week. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Denver is already too expensive. My former employer wanted to relocate me out there after a merger. After doing a budget between taxes, housing and other gotchas like car registration costs, and the offer they gave me. I estimated id be making a few hundred less a month that i am staying put. And that was with a fairly significant increase. I countered the offer, they didn't want to budge, so I said no thanks and stayed.

      I really didn't want to go to cold winters either. I much prefer Florida weather.

  2. Re:Tax bullshit by gurps_npc · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not how it works. The high paid guys set up homes outside of the city. Then they put 50,000 minimum wage jobs that last a year.

    People talk about how ineffective government is? This is EXACTLY the kind of thing government does poorly.

    If your tax incentive idea is worthwhile it should be a permanent part of your tax structure and available to all.

    The only reason to limit it's availability (either for a set time or for a certain company/kind of business) is because it is a crappy idea that would bankrupt the government if used too much.

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  3. Re:Race to the bottom by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

    Marx talked about this in his books

    Karl also (correctly) predicted that it would become more common as interest rates fell toward zero. As the return on capital fades away, capitalists turn to rent seeking at the expense of the taxpayers.

    but all anyone ever seems to remember about him is Stalin & Mao put his name on their Pamphlets...

    Clearly Stalin and Mao are not what Marx intended, but they were the inevitable result of his ideology. His belief that the dictatorship of the proletariat would remain uncorrupted and "fade away" was completely absurd. Human nature doesn't work that way.

  4. Corporate Giveaways... by rnturn · · Score: 3, Informative

    Like they need them.

    Wisconsin gave a multi-Billion incentive to Foxconn to locate there. That doesn't include the pass they'll receive in environmental regulations so the vicinity can expect some local pollution. Sweet deal. For Foxconn.

    What will Amazon be demanding once they select some sucker^Wcity to be their second headquarters?

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  5. Re:Race to the bottom by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

    You could make the same argument about democracy, its only worked in a handful of countries.

    Many dozens of countries economically improved after becoming democratic. Far fewer regressed.

    I think there is a fair argument that dictators didn't come out of Marx.

    Dictatorships can arise under almost any economic system. Hitler, Mussolini, and Pinochet all got along with capitalists. But capitalism can also thrive in free societies. There is no examples of Marxism doing that. In every instance, it has led to dictatorship, usually reinforced with personality cults.