With news that Amazon has selected Raleigh as a top 20 finalist for its second headquarters, speculation has begun about exactly what kind of incentives package the city — or region — may offer. IndyWeek reports on the Amazon story here. Our Jon Sanders weighed in:
And, says Jon Sanders, director of regulatory studies at the conservative John Locke Foundation, which opposes corporate incentives on the grounds that they distort the free market, this would also enable the state to help finance infrastructure to suit the company. Total it all up, and you’re looking at billions of dollars, paid by taxpayers to a company that could be worth $1.6 trillion (with a t) in less than a decade.
This wouldn’t be worth it, Sanders argues. “I think that [incentives] are not efficient and they end up costing more than the benefits they would bring about,” he says. And, Sanders adds, “it’s going to be brought about by crony capitalism.”
What else does Jon have to say about it? Plenty.
