The problem with courting Amazon: When cities compete to attract big employers, the country as a whole suffers. Tax breaks may endanger cities’ essential services: Elite economists are warning cities to stand up to Amazon. Cities that lure Amazon with incentives may be getting a “bad bargain”, new study says. Cities scrambling to attract Amazon because it “creates jobs” are being sold a lie. Unfulfilled promises: Amazon fulfillment centers do not generate broad-based employment growth. What Amazon does to poor cities: The debate over Amazon’s HQ2 obscures the company’s rapid expansion of warehouses in low-income areas.
What to do about HQ2: Ask any of these urban and economic policy experts, they’ll tell you the escalating bidding war to court Amazon HQ2 is dangerous — they have different ideas about what to do about it.
