'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
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Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#2Capitalism is way out of control. No corporation should be able to strong arm the government to get out of taxes. At least not until I can pit states against each other to get out of my income tax.
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#3Capitalism is way out of control. No corporation should be able to strong arm the government to get out of taxes. At least not until I can pit states against each other to get out of my income tax.
> At least not until I can pit states against each other to get out of my income tax.
You can by moving to any of Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming.
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#4Capitalism is way out of control. No corporation should be able to strong arm the government to get out of taxes. At least not until I can pit states against each other to get out of my income tax.
Capitalism doesn't really work unless it can fight on equal footing with the state. If the state can just clamp down however it wants on private enterprise, then eventually all private enterprise becomes state enterprise. See China.
And there are US states with 0 income tax. And countries with very low income tax. Russia has 13% income tax, the state gets most of its income from its fascinating system of tributary taxation. (1)
It's certainly possible to vote with your feet for the system of government that fits your wishes best.
1. https://www.quora.com/Will-Russia-abandon-the-tributary-taxa...
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#5Capitalism is way out of control. No corporation should be able to strong arm the government to get out of taxes. At least not until I can pit states against each other to get out of my income tax.
Capitalism doesn't really work unless it can fight on equal footing with the state. If the state can just clamp down however it wants on private enterprise, then eventually all private enterprise becomes state enterprise. See China. And there are US states with 0 income tax. And countries with very low income tax. Russia has 13% income tax, the state gets most of its income from its fascinating system of tributary ta…
The state’s role is to enable the level of capitalism it desires. Capitalism doesn’t compete against the state, as the state can always control it.
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#6What's missing from most articles (this one included) is any kind of analysis of whether tax breaks make sense for the states in question. It bothers me how it's presented as the state giving $5B of its own cash away to Amazon, as if that money could go to the homeless instead.
Presumably there are ways to estimate the economic effects of 50,000 jobs + tax breaks. Is there a reason they're not mentioned?
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#7Honestly, I think it should be illegal for a city or state to negotiate a tax break with a specific company. Sure, they can cut taxes across the board if they want, but everyone should get the same deal.
I'm even for banning "backdoor" tax breaks that effectively only benefit one or two companies and were clearly targeted at them (I'm thinking of the Delta aviation fuel tax break, as an example), or sweetheart deals to use infrastructure (like stadiums).
I think the most immediate benefit will be that the NFL will have to pay for its own damn stadiums in the future.
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#8What's missing from most articles (this one included) is any kind of analysis of whether tax breaks make sense for the states in question. It bothers me how it's presented as the state giving $5B of its own cash away to Amazon, as if that money could go to the homeless instead. Presumably there are ways to estimate the economic effects of 50,000 jobs + tax breaks. Is there a reason they're not mentioned?
I had the same reaction.
If the HQ is going to employ thousands of workers when its built, and will require a massive construction operation to build, you're looking at a fairly large windfall for the state. Is it $5B worth? The article doesn't delve into the details.
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#9I'm not sure that I would stick around Atlanta if Amazon puts its HQ here. The property values will skyrocket, and I haven't bought in here yet.
The civic angle is interesting though, will pressure groups succeed in reining back the usual massive concessions that local governments usually grant corporate behemoths? Or will it be business as usual where the giant tosses a few shiny wampum beads to the locals while destroying their livelihoods?
Re: 'Not welcome here': Amazon faces growing resistance to its second home
#10This article is about politics, therefore it should be removed from the front page.