Quote:
Originally Posted by torquer
Cities don't "make a mint." Politicians get to attend groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings, and, if things work out, go on to either higher office or lucrative lobbying or consulting gigs, leaving someone else to worry about balancing the books (or, just as likely, kicking that can down the road.)
Another poster replied (sarcastically) "But... Big business is bad ." Business is business, and will maximize its profits any way that doesn't land leadership in jail. (And that's quite a ways, judging from recent history. But I digress...)
The real problem with this HQ deal, IMO, is the expected rush of candidate cities to shower Amazon with offers of money from the public coffers (and that included foregone tax revenue) while the benefits are entirely speculative, and we can't even agree how to account for them. What guarantees are being offered by Amazon? Ask the folks in Harrisburg about all those great jobs at the Foxconn plant.
I brought up the NFL because every analysis of economic benefits from new stadiums (save those commissioned by the sports leagues themselves) show trivial post-construction job gains at best. Bids to host the Olympics depend on similar creative accounting. Amazon isn't that bad AFAIK, but I would still keep my hand on my wallet when someone offers money, money, money.
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The problem with NFL is that those fancy hundred million dollar stadiums are built on the backs of taxpayers who live in the city where the stadium is! NFL, like all sports, should be paid strictly and only by either donations from non profits, and or from ticket buyers, and or from promotions, and or the junk they sell, etc. Why do taxpayers pay for these stadiums is beyond me, this would be like if Walmart wanted to build a superstore they get the city to give them the money to build it and it would be paid by the taxpayers; it should be like any other commercial enterprise, it succeeds or fails on it's own.
The city does make a substantial amount of money on these deals, more than you think, but that all goes into city building projects, police, etc, the only way that money goes into politicians pockets of the city is if they vote themselves a raise. However the city does have special interest groups that get winning bids on projects, and those contractors will make money. So a lot of that money you don't see because it's absorbed by the infrastructure which when a big tax windfall comes to the city the city finds ways to spend the money as fast as it comes in so it appears nothing is being spent on city projects, the city might add more cops to the payroll, improve the sewer system, etc.
Where I live the city lost International Company who decided to move to the outskirts of Chicago, and the city lost quite a bit of money.