Jeff Bezos compared Amazon with New York City’s public school system to criticise what he described as inefficiency in public administration, calling out New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's economic policies. Bezos said that if Amazon operated the same way, customers would receive their packages after six weeks, pay delivery charges of $100, and still end up getting the wrong item. Through the comparison, he argued that poor management and inefficiency cannot be solved simply by increasing spending.
According to Jeff Bezos, just increasing the funding alone cannot fix poor outcomes. The tech billionaire said public systems need root-cause solutions, not finger-pointing, even as his family pledged up to $150 million for early childhood education in New York.
“If we ran Amazon the way New York City runs their school system, your packages would take six weeks to arrive. We’d have to charge you a $100 delivery fee. And then when the package did finally arrive, it’d have the wrong item in it anyway,” Bezos told CNBC.
“None of this money is getting to the teachers, I promise you. If you’re charging $44,000 per student, how much of that money do you think is trickling down to teachers? Not much,” Bezos added.
Bezos was calling out the New York City’s education system by pointing to its high public school spending, which he said is around $44,000 per student each year despite falling student enrollment and poor academic performance. Bezos argued that much of the additional funding is being consumed by administrative systems and it is not directly benefiting teachers and classrooms.
After Bezos claimed that raising taxes on wealthy individuals would not significantly improve conditions for educators, New York mayor Zohran Mamdani responded on X, formerly Twitter. Reacting to Bezos’ remarks, Mamdani wrote, “I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ.”
Jeff Bezos criticises ‘tax-the-rich’ approach, says real solutions matter more
Jeff Bezos criticised policies centred around taxing wealthy individuals, arguing that political debates often focus more on blaming people than solving deeper economic problems.
Speaking about inequality, Bezos described it as a “tale of two economies” and said many politicians rely on creating villains instead of addressing the actual causes behind financial struggles.
“What’s happening here is politicians are using the kind of age-old techniques … you know, picking a villain and pointing fingers,” Bezos said.
He added that such approaches may sound appealing politically but fail to create meaningful change.
“But the problem is that doesn’t solve anything. And so like, if you want to help the group of people who are struggling, you have to figure out real root causes and solutions. And that takes skill,” Bezos noted.
The Amazon founder explained that Amazon follows a problem-solving strategy known as the “five whys,” a method focused on identifying the root cause of an issue instead of assigning blame.
“What we don’t do, because it doesn’t work, is just point fingers and blame people. It might feel good for 10 seconds, but it doesn’t accomplish anything,” he explained.
Bezos’ remarks came shortly after the Bezos family pledged up to $150 million toward early childhood education programmes in New York City. The contribution includes a $100 million donation through the Jackie Bezos Endowment for Early Childhood, along with another $25 million linked to matching funds.
The funding is part of broader efforts aimed at supporting childcare and anti-poverty programmes as New York expands childcare initiatives across the city. Bezos also pushed for major changes to the US tax system, saying lower-income Americans should not be taxed at all.
“When people are starting out and they’re struggling, stop taxing them. We don’t need it. We live in the wealthiest country in the world,” Bezos said. “I don’t want to reduce it, I want to eliminate it,” he added.
