Right now, three tech companies—#1 and #2 microchip makers Intel and Samsung and electric-truck start-up Rivian—are staging secret subsidy auctions, playing states against each other for new facilities. 

$450 million to Centene Corp. $845 million to Apple. $8.1 BILLION to a tech park. It makes no sense: politicians just keep giving away the store, oblivious to economic realities. Why? Because they inhabit a rigged system that strips them of their ability to act as rational market participants.

Your state and local government’s files on economic development subsidies are just that—your files.

With tax revenues plunging and healthcare costs soaring due to the coronavirus pandemic, some major corporations are volunteering to pay back the huge tax breaks and grants they’ve received as “economic development incentives.” They are also agreeing to forego future subsidies by canceling incentive deals. (Happy April Fool’s Day!)

The recent passing of Larry Hanley, International President of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), is far more than a great loss for his union’s 200,000 members. It’s a setback for transit advocacy, environmentalism, grassroots organizing and progressive politics.