112 - Amazon Leaves NYC: Good or Bad? With Anand Giridharadas and Robert Frank

Fortt Knox

So long, New York! Amazon has pulled out of its commitment to build a massive campus and bring 25,000 to 40,000 high-paying jobs to Long Island City in Queens. On Valentines Day!

Roses are red / violets are blue / you’re not getting / my HQ2 – Love, Jeff

What went wrong? Why the breakup?

First of all, some critics were mad that New York offered 3 billion dollars in tax incentives to lure Amazon in the first place. Most businesses just come here because they want to be in New York and pay the taxes.

Second, you’ve got the union issues. Amazon flat out said, we’re not going to want our employees to unionize.

But still. It wasn’t as if the working class in Queens was rising up in protest against the Amazon deal. A poll by the Siena College Research Institute found 56 percent of New Yorkers wanted it, Democrats and Independents more than Republicans. Blacks and Latinos favored the deal more than any other group.

So what gives? And what does it mean for future deals between billionaire-run corporations and cities?

Joining me: Anand Giridharadas, author of  “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” and CNBC Wealth Editor Robert Frank.