A Closer Look at the Tax Incentives in the Amazon Deal

November 29, 2018. This article discusses further Amazon’s decision to put a corporate campus in Long Island City/Queens after a public year-long search and the subsequent skepticism and outrage that followed the decision. Many activists and elected officials oppose the process by which Amazon got its $3 billion deal, feeling that despite the strong overall city economy with low unemployment, it will undoubtedly impact affordable housing, public housing, and the current transportation crisis. The Fiscal Policy Institute and other advocates weighed in whether it makes sense to offer Amazon such hefty incentives in light of major issues like housing and transportation.

That in turn raises the issue of where New York should actually invest, in businesses or in infrastructure, according to Jonas Shaende, the chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “Should we just give [companies] tax subsidies outright or should we invest in what makes New York so attractive and so vibrant and so great? In the things that that are the real factors in in their decision making, things like the transportation system, the affordable housing the access to to labor, to education facilities those kinds of things.”

Shaende wasn’t alone in that line of thinking, as redirecting state subsidies from corporations towards local infrastructure was a centerpiece of the Marc Molinaro and Stephanie Miner campaigns for governor.

Here is a link to the Gotham Gazette.

Published On: November 29th, 2018|Categories: FPI in the News, Tax Policy|

Share on Social Media!

November 29, 2018. This article discusses further Amazon’s decision to put a corporate campus in Long Island City/Queens after a public year-long search and the subsequent skepticism and outrage that followed the decision. Many activists and elected officials oppose the process by which Amazon got its $3 billion deal, feeling that despite the strong overall city economy with low unemployment, it will undoubtedly impact affordable housing, public housing, and the current transportation crisis. The Fiscal Policy Institute and other advocates weighed in whether it makes sense to offer Amazon such hefty incentives in light of major issues like housing and transportation.

That in turn raises the issue of where New York should actually invest, in businesses or in infrastructure, according to Jonas Shaende, the chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “Should we just give [companies] tax subsidies outright or should we invest in what makes New York so attractive and so vibrant and so great? In the things that that are the real factors in in their decision making, things like the transportation system, the affordable housing the access to to labor, to education facilities those kinds of things.”

Shaende wasn’t alone in that line of thinking, as redirecting state subsidies from corporations towards local infrastructure was a centerpiece of the Marc Molinaro and Stephanie Miner campaigns for governor.

Here is a link to the Gotham Gazette.

Published On: November 29th, 2018|Categories: FPI in the News, Tax Policy|

Share on Social Media!