Amazon leaves NYC: Good or Bad? With Anand Giridharadas and Robert Frank
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!
What went wrong? Why the breakup?
Some critics were mad that New York offered $3 billion in tax incentives to lure Amazon in the first place. Most businesses just go there because they want to be in New York and pay the taxes.
Second, there are the union issues. Amazon flat out said it didn't want its employees to unionize.
But 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. And Democrats and independents wanted Amazon to come to New York 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?
Sitting down with Jon Fortt to discuss: Anand Giridharadas, author of "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World" and CNBC Wealth Editor Robert Frank.
Fortt Knox is a weekly podcast from CNBC anchor Jon Fortt. Previous episodes of the program can be found here.