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Last November, one of the world’s largest company, Amazon, choose two affluent coastal cities--Washington D.C and New York City--as the locations to host their new headquarters (HQ2). Years before Amazon made their final decision, they allowed the nation’s cities to compete for the opportunity to secure a headquarter location. Though, in the end, Amazon chooses two cities which, frankly, did not need the economic boost a new Amazon headquarter would provide.
Instead of Jeff Bezos and Amazon doing a good deed that would benefit the entire nation, they chose the winners instead of the needing: marginal profits over the nation. This duplicitous contest and selfish action only adds to the increasing sentiment of there being two Americas: wealthy coastal America and the petering middle America.
Unfair competition:
The chasm between the affluent coastal cities, like New York City and Los Angeles, and the Midwestern cities, like Cleveland and Detroit, has continued to deepen in the past decades. While Seattle enhances its residents' lives and becomes more diverse and wealthier, Detroit has begun to atrophy.
The issue this post is illuminating is how Amazon’s decision has only exacerbated the nation's gegraphic inequality.
Years before Amazon made their decision on where to locate their two new headquarters, they announced that they would allow cities across the nation to compete for the opportunity to host an [HQ2]: the cities were essentially allowed to bid for a headquarter. Because of the anticipated, lucrative, economic boost to the rewarded city, the competing cities spend exorbitant amounts of money campaigning, believing that they had an honest chance at securing an opportunity to stimulate their economy.
(Photo:https://www.wraltechwire.com/2018/11/07/amazons-hq2-split-plan-what-we-dont-know/)
In the end, Jeff Bezos and Amazon choose two cities that could afford to gift them billions of dollars in tax breaks—NYC and D.C. It seems apparent that Amazon’s decision was predetermined. They never truly intended to deign a risky mid-American city with an HQ2. The entire endeavor was just a gimmick; they used the competition as leverage to extract the most money, via tax breaks, from the richest cities. The disappointment and continuing economic stagnation are just ignorable calamities to Amazon
Political Impact:
No one from the Midwest was confounded by Amazon’s final choices. These persons are used to being overlooked. Though, Amazon is ignoring these areas at their own peril. Even though the world has become a global market and you can sell abroad, America is still the most wealthy and influential nation. If Amazon, and companies alike, continue to ignore middle America, it will only result is a self-inflicted injury.
The people in these states will always have equal political clout as those on the coast--as we seen with the revival of populism, they have begun to use it, too. They may start to vote for more disruptive individuals like Donald Trump and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—and Donald Trump and [AOC] are not fans of Jeff Bezos and Amazon. The introduction of distributive populist Politicians, and subsequent legislation, will only be to Amazon’s detriment; they will become a scapegoat for many economic ills. Just like in the early 1900s, populism will attack the most lucrative companies. So, Amazon should begin working on ways to invest in America and bridge the divide they’ve irritated.
Economic and Political Benefits of American investments:
Amazon is worth nearly 1 trillion USD and Jeff Bezos, alone, is worth 135 billion USD—one trillion USD is more than the entire economies of every nation but the top 15. Like Bill Maher said, “Jeff Bezos could buy Mississippi”.
Amazon can do some national good by gifting desperate cities with the opportunity to grow, allowing them to catch up to the coast. For example, with a headquarters in Michigan, there would have be an influx of talented persons traveling inwards for a change. There will be large scale job-creation and increased diversity in these majority-white regions. There will be a rise in tax revenue that can be used to tackle domestic civil issues, like education and poverty. As a result, Amazon will collect ample political cache--averting potential political reprisal--and create new, wealthier, consumers. It would be comparable to Henry Ford, in the early 1900s, gifting his employees a raise so that they could afford to purchase the cars they produced.
Amazon, alone, can help an entire state become prosperous; a state in which they most likely aided in ruining—by choking out local vendors with online sales. Amazon can help make Ohio the next silicon valley.
(Photo:https://www.theringer.com/tech/2018/11/30/18118211/amazon-hq2-search-cities-left-behind)
Thumbnail Photo: (https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/politics/2018-midterms-brownstein-two-americas-in-virginia/index.html)
Header Photo: (https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/181108120952-20181108-amazon-hq2-sign-gfx-super-tease.jpg)
Bibliography:
Gonzalez, G. (2018, November 16). Did Amazon Pick the Wrong Cities for Its HQ2 Locations? Retrieved March 1, 2019, from https://www.inc.com/guadalupe-gonzalez/did-amazon-pick-wrong-cities-hq2-locations.html
James. (2018, November 15). Why Amazon Chose the Wrong Locations for Its HQ2. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/business/amazon-hq2.html
Martin, M. G. (2018, November 15). Don't Blame Indianapolis for Not Being Amazon's HQ2. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/edition-226/dont-blame-indianapolis-not-being-amazons-hq2/
Sarah Holder @ptsarahdactyl Feed Sarah Holder, & CityLab. (2018, November 19). Amazon Finally Announces Its HQ2. And It's Two Cities Instead of One. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/11/amazon-hq2-nyc-dc-headquarters-jeff-bezos-announcement/561236/
Schwarts, I. (2019, February 23). Bill Maher: Amazon Should Build New Headquarters In Middle America. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/02/23/bill_maher_amazon_should_build_new_headquarters_in_middle_america.html