GE shrinks Boston HQ: link here at Reuters.
Amazons pulls out of Long Island City, NY, deal.
Airbus announces it will quit building the A380 Superdumbo.
California bullet train pretty much dead despite what the governor's office says. By the way, the federal government wants their $3 billion back that taxpayers gave California in stimulus money for this project. That's probably just one of the many reason the governor did not kill the project outright. [Later: this project will never die. It has as many lives as the typical cat: nine.]
And we still have Friday.
Soybeans. From oilprice. But there is good news. All of a sudden China is going to have to compete for the US soybean trade.
The EU announced last week that they will now allow soybeans grown in the United States to be used for biofuel in the EU. This move came as part of a campaign to improve trade relations with the United States. The European Commission’s statement stipulates that the allowance of U.S. soybeans for use in biofuels will be valid until July 1, 2021, with a possible extension if the deal meets the sustainability criteria set by the EU in the future (2021-2030).
This is not the first that the step the EU and U.S. have taken to boost trade in the last year. In July, the Trump administration agreed not to place a tariff on European Union car imports. At that time, the two economic powers were already discussing the issue of soybeans as part of a potential no-tariff deal that also included non-auto industrial goods and liquified natural gas (LNG).
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Pelosi Is Correct -- The Next President Could Use "Trump Tactic" To Impose Gun Control
When "Dirty Harry" was asked about that, his terse comeback, in three words, "make my day."
Apparently the President will approve the "budget compromise" to prevent another government shutdown, but he "will declare a national emergency to build the wall." -- many sources.
So, we'll see how fast the 9th Circuit stops this one.
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Green New Deal -- Controlling Emissions
From twitter, "Green New Deal" has new method of cutting down on emissions.
[Do not try this at home, in your garage, in your driveway, or on the street.]
Rumors are that they will do the same with farting cows. Now that's a photo I would like to see.
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On Amazon and GE -- from Chesto Over At The Boston Globe
The article:
Change of heart for headquarters plans: The high-stakes Corporate Incentive Game just became tougher to play. Two of the most prominent headquarters deals of this century took major turns today, twists that will influence the ways in which many state and city leaders handle public incentives for years to come.
First, the New York headline: Amazon just bailed on its HQ2 plans for Queens amid an uproar over a roughly $3 billion package promised by state and city officials. The Seattle-based retail giant will go ahead with the other half of HQ2 in the D.C. area, put more jobs in Nashville, and expand other outposts. (Boston is among the cities that could be poised to land more Amazon jobs.)
Then, the Boston bombshell: General Electric made public its decision to sell its future headquarters property in Fort Point, and scale back its plans for the site. Instead of 800 jobs, there will be around 250. No shiny, 12-story waterfront tower -- at least not for GE. Instead, we get a more modest headquarters on the Channel: The industrial company will lease space in two brick buildings, and move in this summer from temporary offices nearby.
GE, a neighbor of Amazon’s in Fort Point, made some big promises when it agreed to move here three years ago from Connecticut. But the company’s situation has changed dramatically; thrifty new CEO Larry Culp is downsizing and divesting, the better to improve profits and restore investors’ shaken faith in the beaten-down stock. It seemed like nearly everyone had expected Culp to pare back the HQ.
The Baker and Walsh administrations also made promises back then: $120 million in state infrastructure funds for GE’s Fort Point property, and up to $25 million in city tax breaks. GE is now pledging to fully reimburse MassDevelopment for the $87 million in state funds that were spent so far. (Both GE and MassDevelopment own portions of the site.) And GE says it won’t take a dime in tax breaks from the city.
Relocation specialist John Boyd says he has never witnessed so much contentiousness over the issue of tax incentives as he’s seeing today. (The back-and-forth about Foxconn’s fate in Wisconsin is another example.) The New Jersey-based consultant sees an increasingly populist zeitgeist among politicians -- in part because of concerns about income inequality, the gulf between the haves and have-nots.
But Boyd also expects tax breaks and other incentives will continue to play important roles in corporate expansion decisions, particularly in high cost states such as New York and Massachusetts. For example: MassMutual and Wayfair won massive tax incentive packages within the past year from Massachusetts officials -- valued at $46 million and $31 million, respectively -- in return for aggressive job growth.
These kinds of deals could get more scrutiny in the months ahead. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu just introduced a proposed ordinance this week that would create new requirements for corporate handouts. And Jamie Eldridge, a vocal tax-incentive foe in the state Senate, vowed to press for reforms on Beacon Hill.
A few dozen protesters marched in the snow outside GE's big event back in April 2016, when the company previewed its move to Boston’s business community. They were a bit of a ragtag bunch, easily discounted by the well-dressed power players convening upstairs in the State Street tower. But these kinds of activists are getting increasingly hard to dismiss.
Each time a politician agrees to a major tax credit package or another kind of subsidy, a political calculus is made -- the economic benefits will be worth the sacrifice, they will outweigh any backlash. That math could get trickier now. The changes at GE and Amazon could prompt public officials to be more cautious the next time they decide to dip into that well.
Man, so embarrassing to have Amazon pushed out. From talking to some of my more union friendly friends around here, they seems to not understand how the $3 billion of incentives work. Very big missed opportunity.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be hard for me to let go of this one. It is so incredibly crazy. For those in favor of the project, they kept talking about the permanent jobs. I'm thinking of all the blue collar workers that would have been employed for one to two years.
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