Should-Read: Janelle Jones and Ben Zipperer: Unfulfilled promises: Amazon fulfillment centers do not generate broad-based employment growth

Should-Read: Amazon—and other employers—have become very good at squeezing money out of mayors and others in relatively depressed areas in return for job-creation headlines. This does not mean that it is a pure winners’s curse situation: agglomeration economies are very real. but it does mean that the premium on not electing a stupid and corrupt mayor has just gone way up: Janelle Jones and Ben Zipperer: Unfulfilled promises: Amazon fulfillment centers do not generate broad-based employment growth: “When Amazon opens a new fulfillment center, the host county gains roughly 30 percent more warehousing and storage jobs but no new net jobs overall…

…jobs created in warehousing and storage are likely offset by job losses in other industries. Why it matters: State and local governments give away millions in tax abatements, credits, exemptions, and infrastructure assistance to lure Amazon warehouses but don’t get a commensurate “return” on that investment. What we can do about it: Rather than spending public resources on an ineffective strategy to boost local employment (luring Amazon fulfillment centers), state and local governments should invest in public services (particularly in early-childhood education and infrastructure) that are proven to spur long-term economic development…