Economy Archives - Page 10 of 18

Economy

Casinos Are a Gamble

The U.S. is awash in gambling options. Adding new ones isn’t going to do anything appreciable for a local economy

August 9, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ The Omaha, Nebraska, city council recently okayed $17.5 million in tax incentives for a new casino, part of a gambling expansion that voters approved via ballot referendum in 2020. As occurs so often with the current American boom in gambling legalization, the idea behind opening new casinos is ostensibly to ...

Economy

Disney: The Greediest Place on Earth?

This is one of the worst corporate tax incentive deals in recent memory

August 2, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ In last week’s edition of the Boondoggle newsletter, I noted some reporting on a mystery tax break for Disney. The corporation said it was receiving something for moving 2,000 jobs from California to Florida, but nobody would cop to what exactly that something was. Well, now we know — and hoo ...

Economy

Lowe’s Loses, Taxpayers Win

It’s good that the judges told Lowe’s to take a hike, but these cases are just going to keep coming

July 19, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ A Wisconsin appeals court recently rejected big-box retailer Lowe’s attempt to lower its property tax rate in the town of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Lowe’s tried to employ what’s known as “dark store theory” to cut its property valuation nearly in half, from $13.6 million to $7.1 million. As I’ve explained previously, dark ...

Columnists

The Great Jobs Bait and Switch

July 14, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ When a corporation and local officials publicly announce an economic development deal, they both reap a bunch of benefits, most importantly positive press. Both the firm and the elected leaders get their names in the paper or on the local TV news, next to statements about new jobs and dollars ...

Economy

The Las Vegas Raiders and a Raid on Nevada’s Finances

Sports and debt in the desert

June 7, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ In 2016, the football team now called the Las Vegas Raiders received the largest stadium subsidy in American history — $750 million — to ditch their allegiance to Oakland, California and relocate to Sin City. The state legislature approved the $750 million, which contributed to the $2 billion tab to build the ...

The Las Vegas Raiders and a Raid on Nevada’s Finances

Economy

Corporate Handouts Kill Small Businesses. So Why Do Politicians Continue to Offer Them Up?

Voters think corporate subsidies help the local economy

June 2, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ One of the major problems with communities doling out tax breaks and other favors to large corporations is that doing so disadvantages their own, local, usually smaller, businesses. After all, those monetary favors lower costs and offer subsidies for the big guys, making it easier for them to “compete” against ...

Corporate Handouts Kill Small Businesses. So Why Do Politicians Continue to Offer Them Up?

Economy

It’s Time to Ask New Questions About Boycotts

Named after an obscure English estate agent, a tactic that harnesses consumer power to make political change has had many incarnations

May 18, 2021 • by Claire Potter

_____ In 1880, the harvest in County Mayo, Ireland, was so poor that it seemed unlikely that the tenant farmers on lands held by English absentee landowner Lord Erne would be able to pay their rents. Graciously (he thought), Erne offered them a ten percent reduction. Energized by a fairness campaign ...

It’s Time to Ask New Questions About Boycotts

Economy

Building an Alternative to Amazon?

Toward a planetary-scale, pluralist commonwealth for the digital economy

May 14, 2021 • by Trebor Scholz and Casper Gelderblom

_____ During a community town hall discussion last year, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commented that “If Jeff Bezos wants to be a good person, he’d turn Amazon into a worker cooperative.” AOC’s refreshing call for a radical transformation of Amazon’s Everything Store rests on a well-established case of shocking violations of workers’ ...

Economy

IOU planet

Industrialized nations have heavily plundered natural resources for around 160 years. It’s now payback time

May 13, 2021 • by Sarah Waring

_____ ‘We must go faster and further than ever before,’ asserts a measured voice. Scenes of renewable energy simultaneously glide across my screen. I’ve tuned into the US presidency-organized ‘Leaders Summit on Climate’ and am watching the motivational introduction with anticipation. The initial message is one of urgency, determination and action. With ...

Economy

Executives at Gig Companies Say the Darndest Things

Unproductive Labor, Episode One

May 12, 2021 • by Luke Mergner and Pete Sinnott

This is the first episode of Unproductive Labor, a podcast made with support from Public Seminar. Make sure to not miss any episodes by subscribing on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. The innovations of the gig economy are not just about technology but change our expectations, and the ...

Capitalism

The Communism of Love

How the COVID pandemic has revealed anew the importance of Marx’s Gemeinwesen

May 5, 2021 • by Richard Gilman-Opalsky

_____ Marx was transfixed by the Gemeinwesen, a German word meant to grasp the essence of human community, the state of human relations. Marx did not think a world of exchange built around the relation of labor to capital made for the healthiest Gemeinwesen, and he wanted a different one. He ...

Economy

Apple’s Deal with North Carolina Is a Worm in the State’s Finances for Decades to Come

Companies do not need to be bribed to set up shop in the state’s Research Triangle

May 5, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ Three years ago, Apple snubbed North Carolina when it chose a new campus location instead, like so many tech corporations these days, deciding on Austin, Texas. But playing hard to get ultimately turned out to be very lucrative for the iPhone and iPad designer: last week, North Carolina announced that ...

Economy

Casinos Are a Gamble

The U.S. is awash in gambling options. Adding new ones isn’t going to do anything appreciable for a local economy

Disney: The Greediest Place on Earth?

This is one of the worst corporate tax incentive deals in recent memory

Lowe’s Loses, Taxpayers Win

It’s good that the judges told Lowe’s to take a hike, but these cases are just going to keep coming

The Great Jobs Bait and Switch

The Las Vegas Raiders and a Raid on Nevada’s Finances

Sports and debt in the desert

Corporate Handouts Kill Small Businesses. So Why Do Politicians Continue to Offer Them Up?

Voters think corporate subsidies help the local economy

It’s Time to Ask New Questions About Boycotts

Named after an obscure English estate agent, a tactic that harnesses consumer power to make political change has had many incarnations

Building an Alternative to Amazon?

Toward a planetary-scale, pluralist commonwealth for the digital economy

IOU planet

Industrialized nations have heavily plundered natural resources for around 160 years. It’s now payback time

Executives at Gig Companies Say the Darndest Things

Unproductive Labor, Episode One

The Communism of Love

How the COVID pandemic has revealed anew the importance of Marx’s Gemeinwesen

Apple’s Deal with North Carolina Is a Worm in the State’s Finances for Decades to Come

Companies do not need to be bribed to set up shop in the state’s Research Triangle

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