4 ms·

It's the richest company in the world so why the heck do New Yorkers need to hand over their cash to bring them the Queens? Because Amazon can easily go elsewh

by NickM 8y ago

It's the richest company in the world so why the heck do New Yorkers need to hand over their cash to bring them the Queens? Because Amazon can easily go elsewhere, and most places have lower taxes than NYC. Giving them a ~10% off coupon on an extremely high tax rate is not the same as handing them money. You can object to the deal on principle, sure, but you're ignoring the fundamental reality of the situation; if NY refuses to give them any incentives, they can just as easily go to some other location that will give them incentives. And if all the states banded together and agreed that nobody would give them incentives, NY still loses, because then they'll just pick a place with lower tax rates. I can understand the appeal of trying to stand up to big corporations, but in the end, NY isn't screwing Amazon by refusing to negotiate with them on this, they're just screwing themselves. If you want to have high tax rates and not lose business to other states, it's a winning strategy to be open to compromise sometimes.

eeeeeeeeeeeee 8y ago
They can't easily go anywhere else, that's why they picked an established area with tons of talent already in the immediate area. Why didn't they choose some small city in the middle of America where salaries would be less, real estate would be cheaper, and taxes would be lower? Because there is very little technical talent already in those places. Amazon did this to themselves with their tone deaf "national search" and if anything they proved to everyone that Amazon needs NY more than NY needs Amazon. Otherwise, they would have picked any of the other numerous smaller cities that were on the radar of the search, but were not chosen.
- oh_sigh 8y ago
  > They can't easily go anywhere else Clearly they can, if they this quickly pulled out of NY after the reception they received.
  - JetSpiegel 8y ago
    Why not just go with plan B all along and save political capital? Instead they did the dog and pony show of shopping their Decision around, commited to NY and had to backtrack. You can't spin this as a plus for Bezos.
anth_anm 8y ago
> Giving them a ~10% off coupon on an extremely high tax rate is not the same as handing them money. Yes it is. How the hell is it not? and Amazon wants NYC for the size of it's talent pool and ease of recruiting. NYC has no reason to give them anything. > If you want to have high tax rates and not lose business to other states, it's a winning strategy to be open to compromise sometimes NYC is having so much trouble getting businesses to come.
- oh_sigh 8y ago
  If I have a $1 off a big mac coupon, I need to pay McDonalds $5 for what would normally be a $6 big mac. If McDonalds gives me $1, I don't need to buy a big mac and can go spend it at some other store.
  - JetSpiegel 8y ago
    You need to pay taxes anyway, it's not a choice you can make.
- NickM 8y ago
  Yes it is. How the hell is it not? If I give you $27 and you give me $3 back, then yes, technically you've handed me $3. Taking that out of context ignores the end result, which is that I've given you a net $24. You wouldn't be $3 richer if the transaction had never taken place, so acting all indignant that you paid me $3 when you came out way ahead seems pretty disingenuous to me.

by NickM 8y ago

eeeeeeeeeeeee 8y ago

They can't easily go anywhere else, that's why they picked an established area with tons of talent already in the immediate area. Why didn't they choose some small city in the middle of America where salaries would be less, real estate would be cheaper, and taxes would be lower? Because there is very little technical talent already in those places. Amazon did this to themselves with their tone deaf "national search" and if anything they proved to everyone that Amazon needs NY more than NY needs Amazon. Otherwise, they would have picked any of the other numerous smaller cities that were on the radar of the search, but were not chosen.

oh_sigh 8y ago
> They can't easily go anywhere else Clearly they can, if they this quickly pulled out of NY after the reception they received.
- JetSpiegel 8y ago
  Why not just go with plan B all along and save political capital? Instead they did the dog and pony show of shopping their Decision around, commited to NY and had to backtrack. You can't spin this as a plus for Bezos.

anth_anm 8y ago

> Giving them a ~10% off coupon on an extremely high tax rate is not the same as handing them money. Yes it is. How the hell is it not? and Amazon wants NYC for the size of it's talent pool and ease of recruiting. NYC has no reason to give them anything. > If you want to have high tax rates and not lose business to other states, it's a winning strategy to be open to compromise sometimes NYC is having so much trouble getting businesses to come.

oh_sigh 8y ago
If I have a $1 off a big mac coupon, I need to pay McDonalds $5 for what would normally be a $6 big mac. If McDonalds gives me $1, I don't need to buy a big mac and can go spend it at some other store.
- JetSpiegel 8y ago
  You need to pay taxes anyway, it's not a choice you can make.
NickM 8y ago
Yes it is. How the hell is it not? If I give you $27 and you give me $3 back, then yes, technically you've handed me $3. Taking that out of context ignores the end result, which is that I've given you a net $24. You wouldn't be $3 richer if the transaction had never taken place, so acting all indignant that you paid me $3 when you came out way ahead seems pretty disingenuous to me.