B. [12 points] In early 2018 , after reaping a record $3 billion in profits the previous year, Amazon was ready to expand its operations. It announced plans to build a second headquarters on the MidWest or the East Coast. Long Island, NY was a prime target. Although a New York headquarters will clearly benefit the company, it will also increase the costs of living for current residents of Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, and Nassau counties. It will also compromise the city's integrity and stir political controversy (the NY local govemment must entice Amazon with tax cuts and subsidies to compete with the other locations that Amazon is considering). Partly due to the wave of protests by various special interest groups, Amazon cancels its plans to build its second headquarters in New York. Amazon executives: NYC local govemment: #NOAmazon Coalition [grassroots organisation]: C. [8 points] On December 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signs H.R. 1-The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law. Billionaire and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg called this tax bill an "economically indefensible blunder" arguing that companies would not invest more because of the tax cuts: "Corporations are sitting on a record amount of cash reserves: nearly $2.3 trillion. That figure has been climbing steadily since the recession ended in 2009 , and it's now double what it was in 2001. The reason CEOs aren't investing more of their liquid assets has little to do with the tax rate." At year-end 2017, Amazon reports a whopping $3.03 billion in net profits, about $1.0 billion of which would have gone to state coffers under the old tax regulations and avert future public deficits. Liberal news media: Conservative news media