[shaki-dora]

It isn’t about the net loss or win for NY.

The problem with subsidies is that they needlessly cost money in a zero-sum competition between cities. It was always clear that Amazon would build somewhere. A race to the bottom competition over the exact location leaves everyone but them worse off than the alternative, which is coordinating to refuse to engage in it, like any sane economy like the EU does.

[jumbopapa]

It's almost like there is a demand for Amazon to have a presence in the community.

[hannasanarion]

Demand and price are not the same thing unless both sides have perfect information. The fact that Amazon ran a secret auction for their HQ2 compelled New York to overspend, for fear of missing out.