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Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

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Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#341

Post by XR0CSWV3h3kZWg »

williamsmj wrote: post #294
kemiller wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless money is being funneled into private politicians’ hands, it’s not corruption. The choice is between amazon + tax breaks and nothing. These cities clearly believe that they’re better off, net net, with Amazon and they’re probably right. This is not at all the same as accepting bribes. There are certainly bad deals out there, but mismanagement is not the same as corruption. Now if you can show that the politicia…

You say "the choice is between amazon + tax breaks and nothing" like the legal and cultural framework in which these processes take place is a force of nature. The choice is between those things because Amazon says so, and government chooses not to stand up to them by refusing to cooperate country-wide, or passing federal legislation. Amazon is not an outlier here: this is how all deals of this size in the United Sta…

Yeah this is a consequence of the mechanism design we currently have. Large companies can shop around for better tax breaks.

Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#342

Post by XR0CSWV3h3kZWg »

choward wrote: post #327
novaleaf wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sorry but if i have to choose between a guy with an AK47 demanding $5 from me, and a shadowy power pulling the strings of a vibrant economy to extract 10% of my income, I know what I'd choose.

For me it's the AK-47 for sure.

Have you been coerced to give someone money or property under the threat of violence?

Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#343

Post by matrix »

BatFastard wrote: post #226

Come to Atlanta! Great schools, great weather, downtown is under utilized, decent mass transit. One of the fastest grow tech locations in the country. We offer, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no tidal waves, no forest fires, no flooding, and once every 10 year snow storms. We are on the opposite coast which protects you from N Korean actions. Plus you can fly anywhere from our airport!

A reasonable choice to be sure, but I do disagree on the weather and mass transit part. Atlanta's urban sprawl means that fewer residents live near a transit stop than in most cities of comparable size. And the weather - obviously that's a personal choice, but for me the heat and humidity in summer is debilitating.

Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#344

Post by kerbalspacepro »

bane wrote: post #299

Why not in the D.C. area, perhaps near Amazon's own data centers in Ashburn? It's one of the richest, most educated places in the U.S., has huge quantities of technical talent and plenty of high quality nearby schools with strong technical programs and lots of people looking for opportunities outside of the Fed space but don't want to move to the West coast. It also is within the D.C./Baltimore/Philadelphia/NYC mega-…

If I had to guess, the D.C area might already be too big? They'd be competing with all the military contractors/consulting groups that exist out here for talent, housing, and transit access. Their best bet is a city that hasn't been "techified" to having exorbitant rents.

Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#345

Post by logfromblammo »

vadym909 wrote: post #237
BatFastard wrote: post #226

Come to Atlanta! Great schools, great weather, downtown is under utilized, decent mass transit. One of the fastest grow tech locations in the country. We offer, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no tidal waves, no forest fires, no flooding, and once every 10 year snow storms. We are on the opposite coast which protects you from N Korean actions. Plus you can fly anywhere from our airport!

Agree. Atlanta is a great choice.

Except that I want to live in Atlanta even less than I want to live in Seattle. It has a kind of psychic oppression field over it that makes me want to immediately turn around and leave.

Atlanta looks good on paper. It always does. But actually being in the city tells me a different story.

That said, I think only Atlanta, NYC, Chicago, or Boston could absorb the extra demand for skilled employees without sucking the wind out of the other local businesses' sails. The Texan cities could, too, but I don't think Amazon will go there, for some reason.

If Amazon plopped down in Chattanooga or Harrisburg, or even Indianapolis or Detroit, it would exhaust the local talent pool immediately, and cause a local inflation bubble.

Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#346

Post by mywittyname »

ceejayoz wrote: post #157
mywittyname wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cincinnati isn't a good choice. It has a modest tech scene and no great CS/CE universities. Columbus is a far better choice.

> modest tech scene Anywhere Amazon puts a HQ is going to have a pretty decent tech scene pretty rapidly. > no great CS/CE universities Columbus is 90 minutes away, and Amazon recruits internationally. Close proximity to a good CS program is hardly a strict necessity.

Sure, but having a great university down the street means they get first crack at interns.

The biggest problem with recruiting tech people to live in Cincinnati is that most people are unimpressed when they visit. Cincinnatians like nasty food and get excited over utterly boring events. So when visitors come, people recommend they try Skyline and go to the fireworks or something and it generally leaves a bad taste in the visitor's mouths.

Columbus seems like a better choice.

Re: Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

#349

Post by conanbatt »

grecy wrote: post #245
chrishacken wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, those tax cuts are largely offset by income taxes that those employees bring in, along with all of the $ that having a huge corporation like Amazon would bring into the area. It's not corruption, it's business.

No. Those tax cuts should be added ON TOP of the income taxes those employees bring in. More business should be more tax revenue = better services for the citizens. > It's not corruption, it's business. When a business is able to make a deal that gets them out of paying taxes they otherwise would legally be required to pay, that's corruption. Sugar coat it all you want, it's regular citizens they are stealing from.

I think you make the fundamental mistake that businesses are people that pay taxes. People pay taxes, so when amazon pays taxes, either investors, consumers or employees pay those taxes.

So when amazon finds a way to lower its tax burden, either investors, employees or consumers, and most likely all of them,which are citizens, pay less taxes.

Taxes are not a means to reduce profits, if that were to be your desired result.

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