If you live in NYC, Washington DC, or Nashville, TN, Amazon is coming to town. But unlike Santa Claus, Amazon’s new headquarters locations are arriving on a raft of subsidies instead of a sleigh. State and local governments offered billions of dollars in tax rebates and cash grants in order to woo the company.
If everything goes according to plan, Amazon HQ2 might generate a budget surplus for DC and NYC, but, as many cities that have courted companies through special tax breaks have found over the years, that is a big “if.” And there are serious questions to be asked about the wisdom of allowing individual companies to have so much power over setting regulatory policy.
Are the greater-Arlington residents excited about Amazon? Should they be worrying about this type of gentrification? What does zoning policy affect when a company like Amazon enters your city? Do libertarians think that the way that Amazon handled their HQ2 search is appropriate? Is the Amazon location debate a question of fairness?
Further Reading:
Incentives to Pander: How Politicians Use Corporate Welfare for Political Gain (Business and Public Policy), written by Nathan M. Jensen and Edmund J. Malesky
Attract Businesses like Amazon with Lean Government, Not Pork, written by Vanessa Brown Calder & Chris Edwards
How Can New York City and Northern Virginia Prepare for Amazon HQ2?, written by Vanessa Brown Calder
What Could States and Municipalities Have Done with That Amazon HQ2 Money?, written by Michael Farren and Anne Philpot
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