Do cities attract large businesses because of their inherent strengths and benefit from them? ​D​o large businesses skew a city’s spatial-financial-demographic spread in favour of those with formal sector well-paid jobs; if so, should these businesses be made to pay towards urban regeneration? Seattle’s city council voted to approve a bill to charge the “Progressive Tax on Business”. Some 500 businesses across sectors would have to pay this tax, nicknamed the ‘head tax’, but Amazon would be the hardest hit because its employee roll​-call is long. It is projected to pay more than $12 million per year – chicken feed for a company worth over $600 billion.

Source: Hindustan Times May 30, 2018 19:52 UTC