Amazon’s HQ2 Spectacle Should Be Illegal

Re:Amazon’s HQ2 Spectacle Should Be Illegal by matt4077 on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @05:10PM (#18445404)

The issue isn't wether or not these incentives are net positive for the location that wins.

The problem is the prisoner's dilemma of the situation, forcing jurisdiction into a race-to-the-bottom competition.

That's because Amazon would hire these people anyway. NY and DC may come out ahead. But for the country overall, it's purely a transfer for billions from taxpayers to Amazon stockholders.

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Re:Amazon’s HQ2 Spectacle Should Be Illegal by walshemj on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @06:00PM (#18445716)

If you take that to its logical conclusions then states being able to set their own income taxes, sales taxes and their own employment laws is equally guilty.

Those low tax states are net recipients of $ from states like NY and CA - of course that would mean major changes in the constituation :-)

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Re:Amazon’s HQ2 Spectacle Should Be Illegal by matt4077 on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @09:11PM (#18446843)

The logical conclusion happily isn't always at the bottom of a slippery slope.

Here, it would be enough to stop these bespoke, one-company deals. Because no state could afford giving such rates to all companies, the practice would end.

That's exactly what has happened with most offshore tax haven over the last decade or so, btw.

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