The Amazon HQ2 conundrum

What should we make of the decision to build new headquarters in New York and D.C.?

Protesters.
(Image credit: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

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"The most exciting business news story of 2018 ended with a whimper," said Matthew Yglesias at Vox. Amazon's much publicized, yearlong quest for a second headquarters came to a close this week. After a frenzied rivalry that started with 238 contenders, Amazon split its HQ2 between two locations, going with the least surprising choices: New York City and a suburb of Washington, D.C. Locating in places with a large pool of well-educated white-collar workers makes sense for Amazon, but it doesn't do much for the sites Amazon picked. Already-rich cities are "getting richer while their low-income residents actually get poorer," as housing becomes even less affordable and transportation is overburdened. Amazon could have gone to a place where economic opportunities are urgently needed. Now the company's whole search looks like a publicity stunt designed to "entice cities and states to put forward ultra-generous benefits packages" — in exchange for offices that will probably underdeliver on jobs and other economic benefits.

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