You're not wrong, but in my view, this argument is exactly what the problem is.
Quantity discount is OK when you're buying food or bus tickets. Not when you're paying taxes.
Notice I did not say that Amazon would not be paying taxes or that it would not be a net benefit for New York. It is however a detriment to small businesses across the country and to our society as a whole.
It's harmful in a similar way to how selling your mother's jewellery for a crack hit is harmful. the local high is not worth the long-term effects for New York or society.
Taxes the United States are progressive. The more you make, the more you pay. The beneficiaries are the "little guy" who makes the least, the burden falls on those most able to pay, the "big guy". This reverses the model. Not saying one way or the other if it's a good or bad thing, just explaining why it's different than the car sales.
There is a difference between dealing with the state and making deals with other private citizens. I will clarify my position after a test I have to write now. Sorry about the crack hit quip. It felt cheap but I took it anyway -- should have explained it at least.
I'll try to make a more skookum case after my test!
So the difference between the state and private citizens is one of choice. You have no choice but to deal with the state -- with private citizens, you are free to seek alternatives or simply decide not to get certain services. When the government treats two entities differently, the one with the advantage can put the other one out of business if it acts competently. So Amazon would be able to eat all the little guys. It's the diffuse pain, concentrated gain problem. We see the gain because it happens in one place. The pain is spread across many businesses -- possibly numbering in the thousands. The small businesses aren't going to get equivalent advantages because they don't have the heft. And we should remember small businesses are where most jobs are, not big companies.
It's also worth thinking about the fact that those jobs will be created anyway. It's not like Amazon will just choose not to grow its workforce. What I'm saying is that no jurisdiction should offer preferential treatment to one company. If you would like your city to have very low taxes, great. But everybody should be able to take advantage of them, not big companies alone.
The crack bit was meant to highlight the short-term vs. long-term effects. Short term, Amazon comes to town, many jobs are created, all is great. Long-term, biasness across the country will fail to compete -- some for good reason, others because they couldn't get preferential treatment.
I'm sorry but these arguments are philosophical and completely ignore the facts of the deal:
> So the difference between the state and private citizens is one of choice. You have no choice but to deal with the state
Amazon is an interstate business with $240B in revenue. New York City has $100B in revenue. Amazon has a lot of different cities to choose from. They aren't trapped in any meaningful way, which is why this is a negotiation at all.
> When the government treats two entities differently, the one with the advantage can put the other one out of business if it acts competently. So Amazon would be able to eat all the little guys.
The deal offered to Amazon is the exact same deal offered to any business moving jobs into the state (including any of Amazon's competitors that would like to take this deal). Please look at the requirements for qualifying here: https://esd.ny.gov/excelsior-jobs-program
And if you don't want there to be big businesses in New York State I feel like that's kind of a separate argument.
> We see the gain because it happens in one place. The pain is spread across many businesses -- possibly numbering in the thousands.
This is nonsense. It goes completely in the face of basic economic principles. More jobs creates an increase in aggregate demand which helps everyone. Beyond that, the gain is extremely diffused through taxation.
> It's also worth thinking about the fact that those jobs will be created anyway.
This is totally false. Amazon currently employs about 1/6 of the number of people they would be employing at the low end of the estimates. Will Amazon continue growing their NYC offices? Of course. To the tune of 80-90%? Absolutely not. Those jobs are going to Virginia, and along with them one of New York City's prime chances to diversify away from finance money. Beyond that an additional 11,000 union construction jobs were lost.
> What I'm saying is that no jurisdiction should offer preferential treatment to one company. If you would like your city to have very low taxes, great. But everybody should be able to take advantage of them, not big companies alone.
Again, this is pretty ignorant of the reality of the situation. I don't think there is a single state without economic development programs similar to the Excelsior Jobs Program. These programs are widely supported on both sides of the aisle as being beneficial to everyone. The idea that the tax break to Amazon equates to "very low taxes" is wildly misleading. It's a temporary 10% discount on the city with literally the highest taxes in the country, and again, very very small companies can and have taken advantage of the Excelsior Jobs Program.
> The crack bit was meant to highlight the short-term vs. long-term effects. Short term, Amazon comes to town, many jobs are created, all is great. Long-term, biasness across the country will fail to compete -- some for good reason, others because they couldn't get preferential treatment.
The long term effects are also New York City further cementing itself as a tech hub, diversifying away from finance. This could've been a huge, decisive step in that direction, signalling to other companies our commitment to the future and technology. Instead it was a lost of 36-51,000 good paying technology and union jobs, and a loud signal to this country's tech businesses that we will not be welcoming to them. And again: the preferential treatment thing is just not reasonably true. All companies moving a significant number of jobs to New York City have access to the Excelsior Jobs Program.
Quantity discount.
"without shouldering the burdens"
Amazon would still pay plenty of taxes there, as well as their well-paid employees. It would have been of enormous net benefit to NYC.