金融時報:亞馬遜第二總部：香餑餑還是燙手山芋？

亞馬遜第二總部：香餑餑還是燙手山芋？

自從亞馬遜宣布另尋新址建立第二總部以來，眾多城市便一擁而上，各出奇招，吸引亞馬遜前來安家，迄今已有238個城市加入了混戰(zhàn)。但從當地居民的角度講，亞馬遜第二總部能給他們帶來什么好處，又有什么負面影響呢？

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

ballyhoo[?bæli'hu?] 大吹大擂

resentment[r?'zentm?nt] 怨恨，憤恨

pit [p?t] 使…有傷痕，與…較量

charade[??'rɑ?d] 易識破的偽裝

crack [kræk] 優(yōu)秀的；一流的

forgo [f??'ɡ??] 作罷停止，放棄

The downside of the race to be Amazon's second home（729 words）

By Richard Florida

The bids to host Amazon's much ballyhooed second headquarters are in from dozens of cities across the US and Canada. With its promise of 50,000-plus jobs and billions in investment, it has been hailed as one of the biggest urban development opportunities in recent memory.

However, things are not working out exactly as the ecommerce group may have hoped. Resentment among city leaders is growing at what looks like a big, well-capitalised company taking advantage of cities and their taxpayers.

Pitting communities against each other in a bidding war to see who can cough up the most financial incentives is not good for Amazon's brand. There will be one winner and many more unhappy losers. Even the winning city is likely to feel taken, when its people realise that they have given away the store in tax and financial incentives.

The process increasingly looks like a charade: Amazon's crack site selection team has likely already identified a very short list of places that have sufficiently large labour markets, talent pools, airport access and other amenities its new headquarters needs. Why put so many cities through this?

Amazon is one of the most highly valued companies in the world, and Jeff Bezos, its founder and chief executive, is one of its richest people. By forcing cities to forgo public funds that could be used for much-needed investment in schools, parks and transit, it is making itself hard to love. Amazon has raked in more than $1bn in public tax and financial incentives in the past five years or so, one of the largest sums of any company.

Technology companies are no longer seen as heroic innovators, but as latter-day robber barons who treat workers poorly, make cities less affordable and more unequal. Uber just had its licence renewal in London refused, while one city after another is clamping down on Airbnb. A growing chorus of pundits and politicians from across the political spectrum is calling for tougher regulations on tech companies.

“The pitchforks are out for big tech,” is how one congressman from a high-tech district put it to me recently.

It is in Amazon's interest, therefore, to recalibrate and take a higher road. The company should issue an “Amazon pledge” that it will not accept any tax or financial incentives, but invest alongside cities to create better jobs, build more affordable housing, and develop better schools, transit, and other badly needed public goods, along with paying its fair share of taxes.

This goes not just for the city where its new headquarters will be built, but for the countless localities across the US, and indeed the rest of the world, where Amazon has distribution centres, offices, and other facilities. Whatever Amazon gives up in tax and financial incentives will be peanuts compared with the reputational benefits.

This Amazon pledge could be based around three pillars. The first would be to ensure that all of its jobs are good jobs. Tech companies such as Amazon treat their engineering and management talent like gold, lavishing high salaries and all manner of perks on them, from on-site gyms and cafeterias to day-care centres, but they hardly pay the people who work in them a living wage. Amazon should swear off the use of low-paid contract labour and commit to paying all its workers, including both its service employees and its blue-collar warehouse workers, family-supporting wages.

The second pillar would be to ensure that its new employees and existing residents can afford to live near its facilities. Amazon should work with communities to build affordable housing, both for its own workforce and for locals who would otherwise be displaced.

The third pillar would be to make sustained investment in community assets. Instead of setting up self-contained, gated campuses for itself, it should invest alongside communities to develop shared public goods in transit, schools and more.

Mr Bezos is rumoured to be fed up with the presidency of Donald Trump. Some have wondered if he is using this competition to send a message about what really ails America — perhaps by choosing Toronto or another non-American city with more and better public investment in healthcare, schools and transit.

But if he really wants to send a message — and build a stronger brand for his company and a lasting legacy for himself — he should say no to public handouts and become a partner in building stronger, more inclusive communities across the US and North America.

請根據你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目：

1.Why do dozens of cities across the US and Canada compete for Amazon's second headquarters ?

A.Because Amazon can help to create better jobs and develop better public goods.

B.Because Amazon will provide family-supporting wages to its blue-collar employees.

C.Because Amazon will provide an injection of money into the local infrastructure.

D.Because Amazon has pledge to bring 50,000-plus jobs and billions in investment.

答案(1)

2. Which of the following statements about Amazon is true ?

A.Amazon is currently the most highly valued companies in the world.

B.Amazon has built up distribution centres and offices across the global.

C.Amazon has issued a pledge that it will not accept any tax incentives.

D.Amazon's site selection team has decided their new headquarter's locality.

答案(2)

3. Why does the author describe tech companies as latter-day robber barons？

A.Because they are reluctant to provide better jobs and public goods for local people.

B.Because they force local people to give away the store in tax and financial incentives.

C.Because they treat workers poorly, push up living expenses and increase inequality.

D.Because they refuse to offer equal pay to its service employees and warehouse workers.

答案(3)

4. What should Amazon do to improve community assets according to the author?

A.Investing alongside communities to develop shared public goods.

B.Setting up self-contained campuses to produce top-class talents.

C.Providing all its workers with family-supporting wages and perks.

D.Working with communities to build affordable housing for locals.

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：D.Because Amazon has pledge to bring 50,000-plus jobs and billions in investment.

解釋：美國和加拿大的眾多城市都在競爭成為亞馬遜第二總部的所在地，亞馬遜承諾第二總部將帶來五萬個以上的工作崗位以及幾十億美元的投資。

(2)答案：B.Amazon has built up distribution centres and offices across the global.

解釋：“亞馬遜承諾”不僅是為了新總部所在的城市，也是為了所有建有亞馬遜配送中心、辦公室和其他設施的城市，這樣的城市在全世界數不勝數。

(3)答案：C.Because they treat workers poorly, push up living expenses and increase inequality.

解釋：科技公司不再被視為英勇的創(chuàng)新者，而成了現(xiàn)代周扒皮，他們給工人的待遇很差，抬高了城市的生活成本，增加了不平等。

(4)答案：A.Investing alongside communities to develop shared public goods.

解釋：亞馬遜應該對社區(qū)資產進行持續(xù)投資，來發(fā)展交通、教育等領域的公共設施。