美国国家公共电台 NPR 'A Major Distraction': Is A Megadeal Like Amazon's HQ2 Always Worth It?

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Next, we report on the downside of a bidding war for Amazon. Many cities are competing to be the chosen one, the site for a second Amazon headquarters and 50,000 promised jobs. At the same time, some politicians ask if cities are being played. NPR's Alina Selyukh reports.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE¹: When one of the world's fastest-growing companies says we want to give your city thousands of jobs paying six figures, it's easy to understand why red carpets roll out immediately. Amazon's second headquarters is such a huge moment that Washington, a state with the original Amazon HQ, is also bidding for HQ2. In Atlanta, the bidding even factored in the race for mayor.

CATHY WOOLARD: I wrote a letter to Amazon as if I was making a marriage proposal and just had a few things to get off my chest.

SELYUKH: Mayoral candidate Cathy Woolard says Atlanta should not be appeasing² Amazon with a dowry but asking for a partnership³ where Amazon would help with affordable⁴ housing and transit⁵ problems. This kind of message is popping up across the country, ever since Amazon launched the bidding for HQ2 six weeks ago. Among its many asks, the company wants cities to offer financial incentives⁷, which really is a pretty standard procedure. By one estimate, cities and states give up $70 billion a year worth of taxes and other revenues to lure⁸ corporations. But Amazon's request, so out in the open, is prompting some very public soul-searching

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SELYUKH: Who usually calls you?

GREG LEROY: Lately, it's reporters on Amazon. I can't tell you...

SELYUKH: Greg LeRoy is the guy to call if you want to know about corporate⁹ subsidies¹⁰. He runs Good Jobs First, a nonprofit watchdog group that tracks what he calls corporate welfare. LeRoy says Amazon's jobs promise is unprecedented¹¹ if it materializes. And sure, if it does, a surge of wealthy residents would spend more money, boost local businesses, maybe draw in new ones, do good things for the economy.

LEROY: Our concern about this deal is that states and cities are going to overspend for the deal so badly that they'll never break even.

SELYUKH: And here's the thing - most economic development officials don't actually expect tax incentives to be the deciding factor.

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PAUL O'NEILL: I never made an investment decision based on the tax code.

SELYUKH: That's the voice of Paul O'Neill, the former CEO of the industrial giant Alcoa. Here he is testifying before Congress to become the Bush administration's Treasury¹² secretary in 2001. He was asked what tax code encourages business investment. And he says only a gambler would base a long-term plan on a tax deal. A strategy of a businessman bakes in resources and intelligence. The taxes are a cherry on top.

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O'NEILL: If you're giving money away, I'll take it, you know? If you want to give me inducements for something I'm going to do anyway, I'll take it.

JIM DOYLE: And I often thought as governor it would be sort of nice if all of the governors just got together and said, look, we're just not going to play this anymore.

SELYUKH: That's Jim Doyle. He's the former governor of Wisconsin. He was there during the financial crisis in 2008 when GM was closing down plants, including a factory in Janesville in his state. And then GM said it would reopen one plant. So Doyle put together a massive incentive⁶ package, hundreds of millions of dollars.

DOYLE: In this I think GM really just played Wisconsin.

SELYUKH: Because Michigan was the obvious choice, and it kept offering more.

DOYLE: When I look back at it, I believe they were going to Michigan. I can understand why they were going to Michigan. They closed more plants in Michigan. But I always felt we got used just as somebody to drive the bidding up.

SELYUKH: This happens all the time, says Amy Liu, who runs the Metropolitan¹³ Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.

AMY LIU: There's a whole system in economic development that has pitted states and cities against each other for corporate relocations. Amazon just happens to be very good at it.

SELYUKH: In fact, Amazon has already benefited from more than a billion dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies for operations like data centers or warehouses¹⁴. And we should note, Amazon is one of NPR's sponsors, but Liu has an additional worry about the nationwide race for Amazon's HQ2.

LIU: It's created a major distraction¹⁵ from what the real day-to-day economic development activity should be.

SELYUKH: And that, she says, is not chasing shiny mega deals but the long, arduous¹⁶ work of grooming¹⁷ and nurturing¹⁸ homegrown businesses. Alina Selyukh, NPR News, Washington.

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1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 appeasing   

安抚，抚慰( appease的现在分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）

参考例句：

• Mr. Chamberlain had cherished the hope of appeasing and reforming him and leading him to grace. 张伯伦先生则满心想安抚他，感化他，教他温文知礼。
• A pleasing preacher is too often an appeasing preacher. 一昧讨好的传道人通常是姑息妥协的传道人。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

9 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

14 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

15 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

16 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

17 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

18 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。