The Past and Future of the Office

Past Present Podcast, Episode 278

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 ...
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Foxconn, Take Two

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

_____ 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 ...
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Foxconn, Take Two

Up To Heaven and Down to Hell

Fracking, freedom, and community in an American town

_____ 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 ...
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Up To Heaven and Down to Hell

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.

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

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Data Cooperatives for Pandemic Times

The Hidden Costs of Unnecessary Work

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

_____ 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 ...
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The Hidden Costs of Unnecessary Work

The PMC Has Children

Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class

_____ 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 ...
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The PMC Has Children

How States Can Rein in Big Tech and Encourage Entrepreneurs

When it comes to the App store, Apple and Google need to be reined in

_____ Apple and Google own pretty much 100 percent of the market when it comes to app distribution, and they use that control to take hefty fees — up to 30 percent — from dollars you spend on app downloads and in-app purchases through Apple’s App Store and Google’s Google Play. ...
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How States Can Rein in Big Tech and Encourage Entrepreneurs

Bass Pro Shop’s Bait and Switch

How weak anti-trust laws enable a retail behemoth’s predatory behavior and fails communities

_____Back in 2004, Independence, Missouri issued more than $70 million in bonds in order to finance a new retail development anchored by a Bass Pro Shops, one of those mega-sized outdoors goods stores where you can buy everything from guns and tents to winter coats and hiking boots. But as ...
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Bass Pro Shop’s Bait and Switch

The World the Suez Canal Made

When the container ship Ever Given became wedged in this Egyptian passage, it highlighted global capitalism but hid its uneven origins and benefits

_____On Monday afternoon, the Ever Given was floating again. After six days of excavation, dredging, and mounting international panic, the massive container ship finally came unstuck from where it was wedged in the banks of the Suez Canal. Last week, as the number of vessels waiting at either end of ...
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The World the Suez Canal Made

Infrastructure Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving

But the GOP will oppose this important jobs bill and the taxes one billionaires that could redistribute wealth to millions of Americans

_____ This week, President Joe Biden unveiled a new $2 trillion infrastructure proposal titled The American Jobs Plan. The statement introducing the plan notes that the United States currently ranks 13th in the world for the quality of our infrastructure, and that our public domestic investment as a share of the ...
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Infrastructure Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving

State Secrets

Let’s ban non-disclosure agreements in government economic development deals

_____ Sometime later this year, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, city council will vote on whether to give a 10-year, $16 million property tax break to the builder of a new warehouse. There is an issue, however, one that goes beyond the potential loss of public money. The city council members – ...
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State Secrets

Location, Location, Location!

Why tax breaks are such a negligible part of corporate decision-making

_____ Last month, Macy’s received a slew of job creation tax credits from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to expand a warehouse in Jackson Township, a city located within easy reach of both Canton and Cleveland. One of the township trustees — which is akin to a city council member — had ...
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Location, Location, Location!