With every passing day, the economic incentives some local leaders are offering Amazon in a fierce competition to lure the company’s second headquarters have gotten more extreme. City leaders and other defenders of unfettered bidding for companies argue the incentives are a necessary and important part of attracting jobs.

But an increasing number of urban and economic policy experts have had enough. The public competition Amazon has set up, they say, is not just damaging to whatever city wins HQ2…