I think perspective is key here. From a broad economic perspective, Amazon is going to build this thing somewhere, and so these kinds of trade-offs seem pointless. Economists likely object because the whole thing is economically inefficient from a broad (national) perspective.
But from the perspective of a local government, that may not be the case. A local government is concerned about the local economy more than the national economy, and so offering these perks makes sense.
Again, I agree that the whole thing is regrettable, and that it probably hurts the economy as a whole. I wish Amazon didn't play these games. But I also think it's worth pushing back against the idea that these local governments are clueless idiots. They may very well be making a good decision from their narrow perspective, and the city that Amazon chooses may very well see a net increase in tax revenue.
This has nothing to do with Amazon "playing games" and everything to do with politicians making deals so multi-billion dollar companies can avoid their tax obligations. Hilarious, anywhere else in the world it's called corruption, but in America "It's just business"
>They may very well be making a good decision from their narrow perspective, and the city that Amazon chooses may very well see a net increase in tax revenue.
There is no universe where that is true. It just means all the cities are in a race to the bottom competition. Sure their tax revenue may have net increased, but it will be by a much lower amount than it should be.
"Net increase in tax revenue at all costs" is not the goal here.
What do you think is going to happen when this happens all across America, and every time a monster company does something they get out of paying billions in tax?
I'm saying that, in the context of the world as it exists today, if I am the mayor of Boston, it will benefit my city to offer Amazon tax breaks to entice them to build there.
Mine is that revenues go up more than costs of services.
It's clearly harmful because revenue is supposed to be going up A LOT more than it will be.
(the employees will pay property taxes and spend money in the community...)
There is absolutely no world where this is neutral or beneficial for any government.
Of course the employees will pay property taxes and spend money.... but our whole society and tax system is based on the idea that the employees pay taxes AND the employer pays taxes. Just because employees are paying doesn't mean the employer shouldn't.
The government should be collecting millions (billions?) in property taxes and spending from the employees AND billions from Amazon - that's how the whole system was designed and is supposed to function. That's how roads are built and teachers are paid. The government will lose billions of tax dollars from Amazon they should be getting, which is absolutely 'deeply harmful'
I have no idea why anyone would want to be part of a race to the bottom. The drive to increase corporate profits is gutting America, and the kind of reasoning you use simply justifies it.