Economy Archives - Page 11 of 18

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 ...

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

Labor

The Past and Future of the Office

Past Present Podcast, Episode 278

May 4, 2021 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: New York magazine published a sprawling collection of essays about experiences of office life. Natalia referred to this Atlantic article about the persistence of deep cleaning protocols despite evidence that the coronavirus does not spread on surfaces. Niki cited historian ...

Economy

Foxconn, Take Two

Wisconsin’s new deal is less bad, but not good

April 28, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ The Foxconn deal is dead. Long live the Foxconn deal. Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn made a massive pact with Wisconsin in early 2017 under which it would have received more than $4 billion in state and local tax incentives and other benefits, in exchange for building a factory that would employ 13,000 ...

Capitalism

Up To Heaven and Down to Hell

Fracking, freedom, and community in an American town

April 20, 2021 • by Colin Jerolmack

_____ The following excerpt is from Up to Heaven and Down to Hell: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town: Fracking, Freedom, and Community in an American Town by Colin Jerolmack and was reprinted with permission of Princeton University Press. From page 229, Fig. 10.3b. Fracking in the Tiadaghton State Forest. Photograph ...

Capitalism

Data Cooperatives for Pandemic Times

To avoid ‘co-op whitewashing,’ experiments with data co-ops should be co-developed with communities connected to the long history and analysis of the various forms of cooperatives.

April 19, 2021 • by Trebor Scholz and Igor Calzada

To avoid 'co-op whitewashing,' data cooperatives must be shaped by those who need them most, rooted in cooperative principles and localized data....

Economy

The Hidden Costs of Unnecessary Work

By reevaluating the role of work, we can remake our economy and our lives

April 18, 2021 • by Jared Spears

_____ As America looks cautiously toward economic “reopening” post-pandemic, most official prescriptions tend to share a fundamental premise: rebounding to pre-pandemic G.D.P. growth and pursuing the promise of new employment opportunities in the private sector. President Biden’s "Build Back Better" climate and economic recovery plan has been geared toward putting Americans back to ...

Capitalism

The PMC Has Children

Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class

April 8, 2021 • by Catherine Liu

_____ From the very moment of conception, which for professional managerial class (PMC) parents is always a “choice,” the future child and infant possesses “potential” that has to be both optimized and maximized. PMC mothers have to do prenatal yoga while setting up intrauterine Mozart streams on pregnant bellies. Preparing for ...