Economy Archives - Page 10 of 18

Capitalism

China’s Thirty-Year War between State and Capital Has Taken a Decisive Turn

If the financial complexities and implications of the Evergrande case could be boiled down to a tabloid headline, it would read: “XI TO BUILDER: DROP DEAD.”

September 28, 2021 • by Mark Frazier

As part of its recent campaign to regulate capital and to rein in capitalists, Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has set their sights on the China Evergrande Group. Last week, Asian and global markets sank quickly on the news that Evergrande was unable to ...

China’s Thirty-Year War between State and Capital Has Taken a Decisive Turn

Capitalism

The “K” in the Economy

Private equity and the rise of permanent capital

September 20, 2021 • by Andrew Moon and Janet Roitman

The consensus is that the road to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is K-shaped: certain sectors and populations will thrive while others stagnate or decline. Outsized online retailers and digital infrastructure providers, like Amazon, have experienced boom times, while many Main Street small businesses have gone bust. Those with a stake ...

Capitalism

Welcome to the Chip Wars

Intel wants another HQ2 contest, this time for chip manufacturers.

September 15, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ The Amazon “HQ2” contest—in which hundreds of cities threw everything including the kitchen sink at Amazon in the hopes of landing a new facility—was a national embarrassment showing just how tight corporate America’s grip on economic development policy is (at least until New York said no way). In a recent interview with ...

Labor

Branding Myself

How a freelance writer’s summer internship made her reconsider how to market herself

September 1, 2021 • by Hannah Hightman

_____ This past summer, I was an intern at Sarankco, a creative studio and consultancy located in Manhattan. According to the firm’s website, Sarankco specializes in “developing brands that create awareness; designing experiences that influence behavior; and creating communications that drive engagement.” As a freelance writer who had previously written for The ...

Economy

The Big Tax Breaks Behind Big Chicken

All subsidizing these giants does is reinforce the status quo

September 1, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ The Guardian published a good piece recently by Nina Lakhani, who looked at the power Tyson — which is one of the largest meat processors in the world and the largest chicken processor in the U.S. — has over local communities, businesses, and workers. “When a company like Tyson can get ...

Capitalism

The Commons versus Capitalism

Can commonality dodge the threat of capitalist exploitation and develop into an organizational principle for complex societies?

August 31, 2021 • by Thijs Lijster

_____ Although every proprietor knows his own, … all things, so long as they will last, are used in common amongst them. Thomas Morton regarding the Five Nations in North America Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the concept of the ‘commons’ has steadily ascended in significance in activist circles, scientific literature ...

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 ...