Amazon's decision to split its second headquarters between two cities — most likely New York and suburban Washington, D.C. — perpetuates the "modern tech economy" and deepens the economic divide between urban centers and the rest of the country, writes The New York Times' Emily Badger.
A small number of cities, already rich with opportunity, educated workers and wealth, will continue to attract more of those three ingredients after Amazon moves in. The location of the tech giant's headquarters is expected to draw more companies and more opportunity behind it.
For Amazon, the choice to locate in "superstar cities" makes business sense. Innovation requires proximity to large pools of educated people and other companies to spur new ideas and connections.
"Drop a big Amazon headquarters into Washington or New York, and economists expect the 50,000 workers there to be more productive than if the same 50,000 jobs were dropped into Indianapolis. Simply putting them in New York, near so many other tech workers, increases the likelihood that Amazon invents more services, connects to more markets, makes more money," Ms. Badger writes.
This is good for productivity and innovation on a national level. However, it continues to accelerate a divergence between urban and rural areas in the U.S. — a divergence of human capital, wealth and opportunity. It's not so great on a local level, unless the country can find ways to draw out some of the benefits of superstar cities to smaller communities.
Read the full article here.
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