In Superstar Cities, the Rich Get Richer, and They Get Amazon
Link：https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/upshot/in-superstar-cities-the-rich-get-richer-and-they-get-amazon.html
“New York and Washington are leaving the rest of the country behind. Companies like Amazon explain why.”
Recently, we have discussed the notion of “the rich get richer” and given the example on how individuals make decision by coping other people’s decisions. For example, when buying a book, people will more likely to buy a book that other people have already done so. As a result, popular books become more popular.
I found this article very interesting because it refers to the notion of “the rich getting richer,” while describing the development of certain US cities. According to the article, New York and Washington are leaving the rest of the country behind as more and more giant tech companies decide to build second headquarters in there. For instance, companies such as Amazon need highly educated and specialized workers, especially dense cluster of them. New York and Washington turn out to be the two most highly educated regions of the country and can offer the workforce that Amazon needs. As more companies set headquarters in these two places, more highly educated and skilled people will go to these cities to due to job opportunities and high salaries. This circle will keep making a small number of rich and internationally connected cities more economically advantaged and widen the inequality between them and everywhere else.
Now policy makers and economist are fearing “what will happen elsewhere if winners keep winning while many small communities are left behind.” In my opinion, regulators should try to find a way to alleviate this situation. For instance, small cities could give tax advantage incentives to tech giants to set headquarters. Also, could give workers income tax advantages, housing advantages or even educational advantages so that more educated and skilled people move to there. These advantages will in exchange carry job opportunities and new talents to the community and push its economic development.