3 ms·

"Please tell me what about this is bad." A trillion dollar company does not need subsidies.

by gorbachev 8y ago

kodablah 8y ago
It does if you want their business. You made a statement, you didn't say why it was bad.
- hnmonkey 8y ago
  You know, I was going to respond to you by saying that there will always be Amazon business without a new HQ in a place. However, I thought about it and it is certainly possible that they would test new and interesting things in markets around their HQs, potentially providing unforeseen benefits for the residents around them and markets around them. While the whole package deal still seems like a net negative and shady to me, that certainly does fall into a potential (though very not proven) positive category.
  - _pmf_ 8y ago
    Queens becoming a playground for social experiments of a billionaire is guaranteed to be good, right?
- gorbachev 8y ago
  You need to be explained why $1.5B in public assistance to a trillion dollar ($700B+ today it seems) company is bad? I'll try. It distorts the competition, ESPECIALLY in the case of Amazon which more or less competes with every retailer everywhere. It sets a bad precedent (yes, yes, water under the bridge) of big corporations expecting these benefits any time they feel like moving around. NYC has better uses for the money. It doesn't need the goddamn money, because it's one of the most successful companies in the entire world, ever. It can finance its operations by itself with absolutely no problem whatsoever. It's ridiculous they're even asking for public assistance. This is a race to the bottom. Sports stadium construction incentives are good examples of this.
  - throwaway5752 8y ago
    "It sets a bad precedent (yes, yes, water under the bridge) of big corporations expecting these benefits any time they feel like moving around." Absolutely incorrect. It's been like this for decades, is essentially universal, and this is barely egregious in comparison to past incentive packages. NoVA and NYC weren't even the largest incentive packages offered for HQ2. https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-10-economic-incentive-deals-2014 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-10-economic-inc... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-incentive-deals-of-2015 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-inc... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-incentive-deals-of-2016 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-inc... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-economic-incentive-deals-of-2017 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-economic-incent... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-incentive-deals-of-first-quarter-2018 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-in... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-incentive-deals-of-q2-2018 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-in...
smsm42 8y ago
They also don't need to locate headquarters in New York. It's a question of negotiated agreement, not need.

"Please tell me what about this is bad." A trillion dollar company does not need subsidies.

kodablah 8y ago

It does if you want their business. You made a statement, you didn't say why it was bad.

hnmonkey 8y ago
You know, I was going to respond to you by saying that there will always be Amazon business without a new HQ in a place. However, I thought about it and it is certainly possible that they would test new and interesting things in markets around their HQs, potentially providing unforeseen benefits for the residents around them and markets around them. While the whole package deal still seems like a net negative and shady to me, that certainly does fall into a potential (though very not proven) positive category.
- _pmf_ 8y ago
  Queens becoming a playground for social experiments of a billionaire is guaranteed to be good, right?
gorbachev 8y ago
You need to be explained why $1.5B in public assistance to a trillion dollar ($700B+ today it seems) company is bad? I'll try. It distorts the competition, ESPECIALLY in the case of Amazon which more or less competes with every retailer everywhere. It sets a bad precedent (yes, yes, water under the bridge) of big corporations expecting these benefits any time they feel like moving around. NYC has better uses for the money. It doesn't need the goddamn money, because it's one of the most successful companies in the entire world, ever. It can finance its operations by itself with absolutely no problem whatsoever. It's ridiculous they're even asking for public assistance. This is a race to the bottom. Sports stadium construction incentives are good examples of this.
- throwaway5752 8y ago
  "It sets a bad precedent (yes, yes, water under the bridge) of big corporations expecting these benefits any time they feel like moving around." Absolutely incorrect. It's been like this for decades, is essentially universal, and this is barely egregious in comparison to past incentive packages. NoVA and NYC weren't even the largest incentive packages offered for HQ2. https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-10-economic-incentive-deals-2014 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-10-economic-inc... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-incentive-deals-of-2015 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-inc... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-incentive-deals-of-2016 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-25-economic-inc... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-economic-incentive-deals-of-2017 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-economic-incent... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-incentive-deals-of-first-quarter-2018 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-in... https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-incentive-deals-of-q2-2018 https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/largest-economic-in...

smsm42 8y ago

They also don't need to locate headquarters in New York. It's a question of negotiated agreement, not need.