Nobody Called Me Out On This!

In my article about corporations not being job creators, I omitted something in my own oversight. Nobody called me out on it!

Another reason corporations do not create jobs is that they shuffle jobs from one state to another. Net gain to the national job market is zero.

A recent glaring example is Amazon. They got all kinds of press both good and bad for the fact that they are building a new co-HQ in NY and DC. That is not an additional facility, it will be replacing their current HQ. There is no information available on how many of the highest wage jobs will also involve transfer of existing employees but the number appears to be significant.

Yes, it will mean new jobs for those specific areas. It is still unknown the pay level for the jobs that will be created there. However, jobs will be lost in the location they are abandoning.

The net effect of corporations doing this actually becomes a loss to communities. It was widely discussed among Progressives that Amazon was promised a massive subsidy by NY for choosing that location. This is on top of a massive subsidy they were given in Seattle when they built the very location they are now leaving because the subsidy was ending. So Seattle lost tax revenue for years and now NY will do the same. Meanwhile it will cost New Yorkers $billions in infrastructure to accommodate the new location. At a time when the public transportation system is suffering badly and the same money would help that situation considerably.