Jeff Bezos and Kevin O'Leary Spark Debate on Taxation and Government Efficiency

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, has reignited the debate over taxation and government efficiency after telling New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that if Amazon were run like the city’s school system, “your packages would take weeks to reach.” In an interview with CNBC, Jeff Bezos argued that even doubling his taxes would not solve the systemic inefficiencies, saying “You could double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens.” Now, Canadian billionaire Kevin O’Leary has also joined the debate, calling New York City a “complete disaster” and praising Bezos’ critique of government inefficiency, adding people like Bezos should run cities. “I loved what he said. We should get more Bezoses, many more of them, and put them in charge of running a place like New York, which is an absolute mess,” O’Leary told CNN. O’Leary argued that taxing billionaires would “destroy the American dream” and do little to fix structural problems. He said wealthy individuals already contribute heavily through investments and job creation, and that government waste is the real issue. Pushback from Bill De Blasio Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dismissed Jeff Bezos’ comments as “hypocritical,” saying the billionaire was “entirely out of touch” with the struggles of working Americans. “I was amazed; there wasn’t even a hint of humility and understanding of just how difficult the lives of average American working people are and how he could do a lot to help,” de Blasio said. Tax policy at the center The debate comes as New York state lawmakers passed a new luxury home tax targeting second residences worth millions. O’Leary blasted the measure as “sheer blind stupidity,” arguing it discourages investment from wealthy property owners who support construction and service jobs. Bezos, while calling the tax “fine,” insisted it would not address deeper fiscal problems. “I think that the pied-à-terre tax is a fine thing for New York to do,” Bezos said in the interview earlier this year. Jeff Bezos rejects AI is wiping away millions of jobs argument Recently, Amazon founder once again dismissed concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) taking away human jobs. Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris, Bezos said he disagrees with the view that AI will make workers redundant. Instead, he believes that the technology could lead to a shortage of available labour. “I know there’s a lot of concern that many people have, including many smart people, that AI is going to make humans redundant. I totally disagree with this point of view. And I think, in fact, AI is going to create a labour shortage,” Bezos said during his conversation with Blue Origin CEO David Limp. The comments echo arguments Bezos has made in recent months. In a May interview with CNBC, he said A.I. was a productivity tool and wouldn’t replace workers, just as people moved from shovels to bulldozers. At that time, he also described the future challenge as “labour scarcity” rather than unemployment.