“Austin’s tech talent pool has become increasingly tight, and it would be better for our economy to grow by 50 companies with 1,000 employees each than by one mega-project with 50,000 employees.” Original source: The case against Amazon HQ2 for Austin

“Austin’s tech talent pool has become increasingly tight, and it would be better for our economy to grow by 50 companies with 1,000 employees each than by one mega-project with 50,000 employees.” Original source: The case against Amazon HQ2 for Austin

“Austin’s tech talent pool has become increasingly tight, and it would be better for our economy to grow by 50 companies with 1,000 employees each than by one mega-project with 50,000 employees.” Original source: The case against Amazon HQ2 for Austin

‘The question of whether, or how much, incentives actually spark a community’s economic growth is still unsettled. That’s partly because coming to any bottom-line answer is extremely difficult given all the possible variables in any scenario. “The overall conclusion is that effectiveness is there,” says Peter Fisher, a professor emeritus at the University of Iowa and the research director of the nonprofit Iowa Policy Project. “But it’s pretty small, and small enough that incentives end up being a very costly strategy.

‘The question of whether, or how much, incentives actually spark a community’s economic growth is still unsettled. That’s partly because coming to any bottom-line answer is extremely difficult given all the possible variables in any scenario. “The overall conclusion is that effectiveness is there,” says Peter Fisher, a professor emeritus at the University of Iowa and the research director of the nonprofit Iowa Policy Project. “But it’s pretty small, and small enough that incentives end up being a very costly strategy.

‘The question of whether, or how much, incentives actually spark a community’s economic growth is still unsettled. That’s partly because coming to any bottom-line answer is extremely difficult given all the possible variables in any scenario. “The overall conclusion is that effectiveness is there,” says Peter Fisher, a professor emeritus at the University of Iowa and the research director of the nonprofit Iowa Policy Project. “But it’s pretty small, and small enough that incentives end up being a very costly strategy.

Just too much growth, too fast, and raising costs which kicks lower income people to the curb: ‘Seattle journalist Knute Berger tells Business Insider that Amazon’s original headquarters has displaced minority communities there, driven up housing costs, and swelled the city’s population of homeless people. Seattle is also in the nation’s top 10 cities with the worst traffic, and doesn’t have a public transit system good enough to alleviate traffic pressure.

Just too much growth, too fast, and raising costs which kicks lower income people to the curb: ‘Seattle journalist Knute Berger tells Business Insider that Amazon’s original headquarters has displaced minority communities there, driven up housing costs, and swelled the city’s population of homeless people. Seattle is also in the nation’s top 10 cities with the worst traffic, and doesn’t have a public transit system good enough to alleviate traffic pressure.

Just too much growth, too fast, and raising costs which kicks lower income people to the curb: ‘Seattle journalist Knute Berger tells Business Insider that Amazon’s original headquarters has displaced minority communities there, driven up housing costs, and swelled the city’s population of homeless people. Seattle is also in the nation’s top 10 cities with the worst traffic, and doesn’t have a public transit system good enough to alleviate traffic pressure.

“Toronto, Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Boston, New York City, Newark, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Washington, D.C., Raleigh, Northern Virginia, Atlanta, and Miami." Original source: Amazon narrows HQ2 search to 20 cities, moving to next phase in contest for $5B economic prize