Camden Wants Answers
Did billions of public dollars create jobs for New Jersey workers?
Did billions of public dollars create jobs for New Jersey workers?...
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Semiconductor Subsidy Doom Loop
There’s an ugly state-federal feedback loop happening
That doom loop is happening because Congress is dangling large federal semiconductor subsidies out there, but hasn’t approved them yet, and states want those funds to land within their borders, so are spending a lot all by themselves in the hopes that it will lead to an even bigger payoff....
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Meet A Corrupt Company Town
Anaheim is a prime example of the nexus between corporate subsidies and public corruption
Communities can take on the Amazons and Disneys of the world and win. We all just need to share the resources and tactics that make those wins possible....
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The Future of DC’s Antitrust Fight With Amazon
State attorneys general can challenge the damaging practices of the largest corporations in America
Last year, Karl Racine, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., sued Amazon under the District’s antitrust laws. And his case was a novel one. While Amazon in the American zeitgeist is associated with low prices, Racine alleged that Amazon was actually using restrictive and unfair agreements with its third-party sellers ...
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Dueling Secret Deals
Kansas and Oklahoma: So many NDAs, so many corporate handouts, so little time
Back in February, Kansas legislators approved a $1.2 billion corporate subsidy package for an as-yet-still unnamed corporation. Many members of the legislature signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from divulging the proposed recipient of that taxpayer largesse.
Events this week show why the corporation in question hasn’t come out from behind the curtain in ...
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The Film Tax Credit Sequel Stinks
Two thumbs down to subsidies for film and TV production
There’s a new sequel coming out, and let me tell you, it is terrible.
No, I’m not talking about whatever film is actually up on the silver screen at the moment, but a push in statehouses across the country to revive or create film and TV tax credit programs, one of ...
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Why Taking on Turbotax Matters
Intuit is a scourge
Tax Day 2022 is almost here, so it seems like a good time to talk about one of my least favorite corporations: Intuit, the makers of Turbotax, the now ubiquitous electronic tax payment software.
A couple of weeks ago, the Federal Trade Commission — which enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection ...
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Ban Secret Deals
Meet the new coalition pushing to ban NDAs in corporate subsidy deals
As regular readers know, I am a pretty big critic of the use of non-disclosure agreements in economic development deals. These agreements — signed by governors, members of state legislatures, mayors, city council members, and other local leaders — prevent public officials from disclosing anything about a corporate subsidy deal ...
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Subsidized By Taxpayers, Stealing From Workers
Wage thieves should get no public favors
The U.S. Department of Labor earlier this month found that Seaboard Triumph Foods, a pork processor in Sioux City, Iowa, illegally stole wages from workers by not paying them for work done before and after their official shifts, including time for “set up, clean up and knife sharpening.” Seaboard was ...
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Amazon Extracts Billions from Communities Globally
Last month, UNI Global Union and my organization Good Jobs First released a report detailing the subsidies Amazon.com, Inc. has gotten around the world. I was the lead author of the study. Months of research by our multi-lingual team found that the company has received at least $4.7 billion....
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Walmart Kills Wages
State and federal lawmakers are focusing more on corporate power in labor markets
The U.S. Treasury Department released a report last week looking at the power dominant firms have over labor markets, or, in layperson’s terms, the power employers have over how much you are paid and what your work conditions are like. And the findings were grim: “As this report highlights, a ...
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Let the People Decide What Counts as Public Goods
Why government spending should be defined by our democratic process, not by market forces
Public health is a public good, but the Trump administration handed it over to corporations. Shocking as this was, the Trump administration’s stance was simply an extension of what it had been doing since it came into office, and what politicians of all stripes have been doing for some fifty ...
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