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>Virginia did all the investment to attract tech companies to the area

Aren't these tech companies all there to do government services contracting? Seems more like DC is providing industry / jobs to Virginia

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No. And you can’t credit the federal government to DC, as the federal tax base and governance is almost wholly distinct from the municipal one. Say Rockwell builds an office in Reston because of good Virginia schools and the availability of Virginia Tech and UVA grads. Virginia builds the roads that get workers there, and the schools for the workers kids. If the office works on a federal contract, the Pentagon awards it (which is in Virginia) and the taxes that pay for it come from Michigan and California. DC doesn’t have any involvement, other than being the metaphysical locus of the federal government.

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