Corporations Archives - Public Seminar

Body & Mind

The Fashion for Baiting, Brainwashing, and Bullying

How does Brandy Melville continue to tap into the most desperate impulses of being a teenage girl?

December 10, 2024 • by Hannah McIntyre

“From the beginning of the supply chain to the end, we’re all being exploited by the same system” says Chloe Asaam, who represents the Or Foundation. She’s speaking in Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion, an HBO documentary that explores the toxicity of the international brand Brandy Melville. The ...

The Fashion for Baiting, Brainwashing, and Bullying

Corporations

Throw Junk Fees in the Trash

States are following the Biden administration’s lead in going after unfair and deceptive fees

April 18, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

If corporations have power, it’s a safe bet they’re using it to extract junk fees. ...

Corporations

Inside the Fight to Save Local Journalism

State and federal lawmakers are aiming at Big Tech’s ability to destroy local news

April 11, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

The decline in local news coverage is bad for communities for a whole host of reasons. ...

Inside the Fight to Save Local Journalism

Corporations

Non-Competes, Banned

The FTC took the first step, now states need to follow up

January 23, 2023 • by Pat Garofalo

Getting rid of non-competes is a big deal and is a big win for economic freedom for all workers...

Corporations

Election Day 2022: Good (and Some Bad) News for State Corporate Power Politics

Big tech antagonists did well, but so did megadeal boosters

November 14, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Big Tech antagonists won big in attorneys general races. So did all of the governors who have been promoting major corporate subsidy deals in recent months won their reelection races, lending more evidence to the already existing heap of it that massive corporate handouts can be potent political tools....

Election Day 2022: Good (and Some Bad) News for State Corporate Power Politics

Corporations

An Ethics of Refusal

Beyond “The Great Resignation”

November 14, 2022 • by Benjamin P. Davis

In the United States, we live in a country where someone who works for a law firm that services Big Oil is by and large considered intelligent and successful, maybe even ethical due to their pro bono representation, no matter that such a firm, for instance, did not represent foreclosure ...

Corporations

The “Transferable” Subsidy Scam

Meet a big, under-the-radar problem

October 31, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

It’s a mess, is what I’m saying. But making a corporate subsidy transferable is an easy thing to do under the radar, without folks knowing what it means or realizing what their state is in for when such a policy is actually implemented. ...

Corporations

3 Ways Congress Could End the State Subsidy Wars

Don’t hold your breath, though

August 29, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Though most of the time I write about how state and city leaders and community members can combat the scourge of corporate subsidies themselves, in theory, Congress could swoop in and knock the whole thing off, stopping states from engaging in this race to the bottom. Here are three ways ...

3 Ways Congress Could End the State Subsidy Wars

Corporations

Stopped on the Tracks

Why a proposed railroad merger could be bad news for local communities

August 8, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Given the concerns locals have about what the merger would mean for their own backyard, as well as legitimate larger issues with what it would mean for the rail system as a whole to experience even more consolidation than has been allowed already, I’m certainly on team “stop this merger ...

Corporations

Seriously, What’s the Matter With Kansas?

The new Panasonic and Kansas deal could result in low-pay and no-benefit jobs

August 2, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

But in any deal, and particularly one of this size, at a bare minimum lawmakers should demand concrete promises on jobs and pay, not vague totals and hopes and prayers that a corporation will hire workers rather than automate its processes. Panasonic could absolutely hit its payroll total with a ...

Seriously, What’s the Matter With Kansas?

Corporations

Amazon’s Secret Utility Discount

The growing tendency of corporations hiding details of their subsidy deals

July 25, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

Amazon also may have applied for a discount on the new facility’s power, but the relevant governing body—the New York Power Authority (NYPA)—refuses to either confirm or deny if Amazon submitted an application.This is the latest example of a troubling trend: noncompliance with public records law, in order to hide details of corporate ...

Corporations

Semiconductor Subsidy Doom Loop

There’s an ugly state-federal feedback loop happening

June 13, 2022 • by Pat Garofalo

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....