Crony Capitalism

[Captdon]

Amazon officially announced the locations for its new HQ2- Crystal City, VA and NYC. That will create 25,000 jobs in each location with an average starting salary of $150,000 - although Amazon is getting government granted breaks for these locations, its workers will pay local taxes.

I am worried about the increased traffic here, and the spike in real estate prices. I am sure my condo has spiked in value this week, but if I sell here and buy another property here, I won't see any savings.

Move to W. Va. You can live like a king there with your net gain. I'd do it except my wife won't move there.

[Peter1469]

Move to W. Va. You can live like a king there with your net gain. I'd do it except my wife won't move there.

I can do that when I retire.

[Chris]

Mad about Amazon's corporate welfare? Blame politicians

...These headquarters will come at a tremendous cost to current residents and taxpayers. Amazon is expected to receive $2.8 billion in tax subsidies from state and local governments and may benefit from additional federal tax subsidies.

New York was so desperate to win the contract, it offered Amazon more than $1.5 billion in tax subsidies, which amounts to $48,000 per job. ...

The Amazon deal is a prime (see what I did there?) example of corporate welfare. A company valued at $1 trillion as recently as September does not need special handouts to break ground on new office buildings.

Perhaps New York State Sen. Mike Gianaris put it best when he asked, “Why can Google bring 20,000 jobs here without any public subsidies, but Amazon needs $3 billion? What is so special about Amazon?”

...Ocasio-Cortez is right. That’s something I don’t often say, but hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day. The Amazon tax breaks are unfair to local taxpayers who will receive marginal benefits, if any, from the new offices.

If New York truly has more than $1.5 billion tax dollars to spare, it should have taken less money from New York families and small businesses all along....

...Corporate welfare is not the key to job creation because it is never about the people; it is always about the politics. Legislators make sweetheart deals with companies that allow them to brag about their success with “economic development” and “job creation” on the campaign trail.

But as the Wall Street Journal editorial board so aptly wrote, these politicians aren’t creating jobs; they are buying jobs. If state and local governments embraced the free-market policies that attract businesses and entrepreneurs, they wouldn’t have to bribe megacompanies like Amazon to set up shop in their cities.

...To add insult to injury, residents will be forced to endure more crowded public transportation, more traffic, and higher housing costs due to ridiculous city zoning laws. If Ocasio-Cortez thought renting an apartment in Washington, D.C., was expensive before, just wait until the Bezos Bros move in. Markets, not central planners, should be dictating where firms set up shop....