Amazon's Second Headquarters Is a Gift, Not a Burden

Back in September, Amazon announced that it is seeking a North American city to become the site of its second corporate headquarters. By promising that the so-called HQ2 will bring $5 billion in local investment and 50,000 new jobs, the tech giant inspired a cross-continental bidding war for what is sure to be an easy path to soaring city-wide economic growth. Sure enough, Amazon revealed that a staggering 238 cities and regions had submitted proposals by the October 19 deadline. The bids varied from offers of tax breaks (New Jersey's bid for Newark included $7 billion in state and city tax credits) to more attention-grabbing approaches (a Tucson, Ariz ...