The big prize #Amazon has gotten out of its #HQ2 stunt is not the PR value of a bunch of city leaders singing its praises, or even the billions of $ in subsidies that it will extort from public coffers.



It’s the data. 1/

Dozens of cities have shared reams of data with Amazon that their own citizens do not have access to. This includes intel on future infrastructure investments, land use patterns, planned policy changes, and so on. 2/

Amazon will use this data to build out its empire: To site stores, warehouses, etc. To get in early on the right real estate. To beat out competitors because it knows things they don’t. 3/

In other words, America’s city leaders are accomplices to a monopolist. 4/

This includes many political leaders who profess to be champions of equality and justice. 5/

This is not about 1 city or 2 cities. It’s about a corporation that’s extending its tentacles in every direction -- to extract wealth, insert itself, dominate. 7/7

You can follow @stacyfmitchell.

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