> I think we should start asking questions about economic value flow. If people live in one place yet all their economic activity is directed to some place on the other side of the country, what is the long term effect of this on their local economy?
What do you mean? Isn't there economic value in owning a Tesla? Just because the money flows the other way doesn't mean there isn't value in owning the product.
The problem isn't with owning the Tesla but rather that the economic transaction involved in acquiring the Tesla would leave nothing to NJ (except perhaps sales tax).
When you have a dealership, you have local folks working there thus some of the money that car buyers spend gets circulated locally, which would not be the case if all you have to do is point and click to get your car delivered.
This is a serious concern as more economic transaction is virtualized.
You don't forcefully create jobs when there are none required. Lets get rid of computers and hire thousands of accountants instead.
Tesla still has service shops where the local people would be employed.
> the economic transaction involved in acquiring the Tesla would leave nothing to NJ
As I understand the sales will shift completely from local venues to point and click only after the laws in question come into power. The stores that are about to become galleries do employ local folks and a sales ban may imply reductions on sales-related positions, right?
I don't know if you are familiar with how car dealerships tend to be distributed but a gallery would not be an adequate replacement. Typically you have numerous dealerships in towns/cities, I suspect you won't have anywhere close to that many galleries.
In any case, issues like this I believe are just the beginning of a larger debate to come. I don't see how local economies are going to sit idly by and watch us do all our shopping on Amazon.com where the only part of the transaction's economic value that enters the local vicinity is perhaps the delivery truck, that is not sustainable.
I do much of my shopping on Amazon and other online retailers.
It's one of the things that makes it practical and tolerable for me to live in a somewhat isolated, low-population-density town/area where I own a home, pay taxes, receive medical care and various other non-remoteable services, purchase prepared food and other perishable goods, all while working for a company based on the other side of the planet, bringing in a fairly high salary for the area.
My local economy receives far more value because Amazon makes it easy for me to live there than they would if Amazon didn't exist and I instead lived in a much more convenient large city.
What do you mean? Isn't there economic value in owning a Tesla? Just because the money flows the other way doesn't mean there isn't value in owning the product.