Amazon Announces Location of HQ2

[mtnbkr]

During an election, I saw a campaign sign for a prospective mayor that read, "If a business wants to make money here, they should have to pay for that privilege!"

I really don't get why it's so hard to understand that this mentality is a bad idea.

You see that attitude within large companies as well. I would wager Amazon is guilty of it. I know Walmart is.

If not directly pay for the privilege, then offer substantial discounts, favorable terms, etc.

Chris

[NEPAKevin]

[txdpd]

The sad part is that voters there will think this is a win for them, rather than being pissed that their "Leadership" let 3.75 billion in wages walk away.

That’s only a good deal if the jobs are offered to native New Yorkers and the money stays in NYC, which is not a realistic expectation. New Yorkers would likely shoulder the burden of Amazon moving 10’s of thousand of employees to NYC suburbs and nearby cities, where that money would be spent. For a significant number of people in NYC, HQ2 would just mean higher taxes and houses, and a net lower quality of living.

There’s a bigger assumption here that amazon was ever actually going to open HQ2. It’s pretty apparent that most of the HQ2 solicitations were just a data grab from cities. Those incentives are a big deal to native New Yorkers, but in a non-factor in Amazon's current tax environment. If HQ2 is being abandoned over the value of the incentives, I don't think that Amazon was ever serious about the venture, if this is a blow to Bezos Ego, it's a win because it would be a lot worse when he has moved in and them by the balls.

[RevolverRob]

That’s only a good deal if the jobs are offered to native New Yorkers and the money stays in NYC, which is not a realistic expectation. New Yorkers would likely shoulder the burden of Amazon moving 10’s of thousand of employees to NYC suburbs and nearby cities, where that money would be spent. For a significant number of people in NYC, HQ2 would just mean higher taxes and houses, and a net lower quality of living.

Let's be clear on something - there are no "native" New Yorkers in the sense you mean. And the money would always stay in NYC to a degree. To begin with NYC does not have income tax, they have sales tax. Taxes that would be collected every time one of those 25,000 employees commuted into the city, or paid for parking, or bought a coffee, or bought a sandwich. None of that money gets spent now.

Second, HQ2 was going to be built in a region that needs significant infrastructural refinement and development. Here's a quote from AOC, "The 29-year-old went on to say: “Amazon is a billion-dollar company. The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here.”

If you've got to haul in an extra 25,000 people daily, you have to invest in infrastructure. It's not like magically you build a new campus some place and then don't have a way to get workers there. Nope, part of campus infrastructural development is investment in the local community. Whole new sets of businesses cropping up to cater to those 25,000+ daily visitors. Imagine, you got 25k tourists show up one day and just decide to stay, forever. That's what 25k new jobs means to an area. And it means all that revenue ALL of it - is lost. The opportunities for current Queens residents to earn additional income, the chance for current Queens property owners to cash in on new higher property values, etc. All of that gone.

AOC's comments reflect immaturity and stupidity. Ten minutes of cruising around any sizable city will lead one to discover that "gentrification" that everyone loves to suggest is derogatory is one of the best things that can happen, financially, to any area. And yes the residents of that area, pre-gentrification will likely turn over and move away eventually, but many, many, of them will cash in on the the uprising of the area, before they do so. In otherwords, the majority of people are positively impacted by growth and the minority that are not, are typically so financially unwell that winning the lottery couldn't help them.

Example: The announcement to build the Obama Library right here in the neighborhood I live in, in Chicago. Over night, property values jumped 40% and over the coming months leapt up almost 80%. Long time condo owners in the neighborhood, some who have lived here for 30 or 40 years, cashed in and retired. Now they can live comfortably, where as some of them were wondering if they'd die living where they had for 30 years. That's an instantaneous financial win for those folks and for the city and state the collected income and property taxes on those sales.

Some folks, like my PhD supervisor, sold his small condo, purchased before he and his wife had a child, bought a newer, much larger, condo and had cash left over to send their daughter to private school. End result he now commutes to campus (instead of walking) and thus invests every day into the public transit system, he and his wife pay their property taxes, paid their taxes on their house sale, and fund a local private school with their tuition investments. Win, Win, Win for the city and his family.

[Drang]

I watched AOC talk about all the things the could be done with the 3 billion dollar incentives given to Amazon. I got the feeling that she didn’t understand that this money did not exist yet. It reminded me of negotiating with kids when they were young. They whined for X; I offered Y. They refused and got nothing. I understand it’s NY city and 25000 jobs is not a lot but it’s a lot to just piss away

To be precise, she's talking about what they should do with the money that was never paid and never actually budgeted. In other words, it never existed.

Not that this is any different from any of her other proposals, economics-wise.

Remember when she was touting her economics degree?

[Joe in PNG]

I still think she's a paid agent of the Babylon Bee.

Ocasio-Cortez Declares Victory Over The Modern-Day Equivalent Of Slavery: Jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is busy celebrating her victory over the tyrannical Jeff Bezos and the horrible burden his company Amazon had planned to inflict on the people of New York City: 25,000 jobs.

“No, I’m very good with numbers,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She held up a notebook with a few hastily scrawled numbers on it. She pointed to one. “This one is a four.”

And while some say "Trump says stupid stuff too!", let's face it- she's on track to make him look wise, self-controlled, polite, careful, and measured in his comments.

[Larry Sellers]

That pretty much sums it up!



Exactly. Sure, NYC will get along without Amazon...but it's stupid to miss out on this revenue.

I used to live in a decayed industrial city.

During an election, I saw a campaign sign for a prospective mayor that read, "If a business wants to make money here, they should have to pay for that privilege!"

I really don't get why it's so hard to understand that this mentality is a bad idea.

I'm working in a city like that now....

We're one of the only places in the state that I know of that had a Lowe's go out of business. 80k people, central to the state and 3 major highways go through the city.

"We don't know why no business wants to come here?"

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[JAD]

It’s NYC. They’ll manage without Amazon.

Manage to what?

[NickA]

DeBlasio trying to save face by calling it an "abuse of corporate power" that Amazon is choosing to build elsewhere.
Because they should want to get their asses kicked in the media daily by AOC instead of going to one of the places that will welcome them with open arms. Clearly none of these halfwits know how business works.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/17/tech/...hq2/index.html

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[RJ]

Will they? Cuomo was already bemoaning the fact that all of the middle class taxpayers are fleeing to Florida and Texas.

I'm familiar with the Real Estate market here in FL (Mrs. is retired Agent) and by far the most common place where folks are coming in to write deals are from NY. Much more so than in the past, apparently. Especially on the higher end price point properties.