Reply to Amazon's Reality Check for MD

Forum Index » Real Estate

Reply to "Amazon's Reality Check for MD"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Why didn't MD or, for that matter, DC, land HQ2?  [b]Political risk.  [/b]

Part of the impetus to expand out of Seattle for Amazon was the threat of populist policies like Seattle's tax on employee headcount to fund homeless services.  See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/12/seattle-backs-off-tax-to-help-homeless-after-amazon-business-groups-mount-fierce-opposition/?utm_term=.c26b41d5ade4

I can see DC or MD politicians pushing for things like this and use the foil of "subsidies" to Amazon should they have landed HQ2.  I don't see VA or even Arlington politicians getting behind something like this though.  In general, DC and MD Democrats overestimate the political and policy benefits of social spending and underestimate the economic and fiscal cost.  VA Democrats are much more level headed.

I think Muriel Bowser and Larry Hogan actually get this.  In the case of Bowser, I think part of her push to have Dionne Reeder voted into the DC Council was to demonstrate that she can punish DC Councilmembers like Elissa Silverman that back new creative social spending ideas like paid maternity leave.

In general, social spending that tries to tackle national problems should be dealt with at the national level IMO.  If not, then those jurisdictions like DC  and MD that try to solve national problems with local measures will saddle themselves with a fiscal problem and disadvantage their competitiveness for business.

I say this all as a pro-business Democrat.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics