Dollars & Sense articles from July 1998

Dollars & Sense archives from July 1998

Earth predators. (transnational corporations)
July 1, 1998... Transnational corporations are the dominant institutions of our time - far exceeding most governments in power and scope. Corporations are driving the process of economic globalization, creating a legal framework of treaties which...

SUNY in crisis. (State University of New York's ability to provide quality education at low cost is being jeopardized)
July 1, 1998... The State University of New York turns fifty this year, but its mission - to provide New Yorkers with quality education at low cost - is endangered. Due to budget cuts and tuition hikes, fewer and fewer moderate- and low-income people can afford...

IMF under siege. (criticisms against the International Monetary Fund)
July 1, 1998... When the Indonesian government under IMF order ended oil subsidies in May, the people rebelled. Already suffering an economic crisis that pushed as many as half of Indonesians into poverty and ignited a near-hyper inflation that more than doubled...

Merger mania continues. (corporate acquisitions and mergers)
July 1, 1998... Since our May/June cover story, The Threat From Mergers: Can Antitrust Make a Difference," went to press, corporate buyouts have proceeded at a furious pace. Four industries have been hit with the largest merger announcements in history: in...

Rage against the MAchIne. (Multilateral Agreement on Investment of the World Trade Organization)
July 1, 1998... "We are writing the constitution for a single global economy," announced Renato Ruggerio, the director-general of the global commerce agency called the World Trade Organization (WTO). This single economy is a radically deregulated one, and it is...

Bad company: how to civilize the corporation.
July 1, 1998... If a council of wise elders were to recommend a design for the basic business organization of this age, the current form of corporation would not likely be their choice Today's version of the corporation evolved about 150 years ago, at a time...

Who's in the driver's seat?: industry, government and the car of the future. (includes related article on the debate on global warming)
July 1, 1998... At the summit in Kyoto, the world's industrialized nations agreed to binding cuts in global warming gas emissions. In its wake, the auto industry appears to have made an about face. The Big 3's press offices have rolled out "Green" vehicle...

I want my Ford Explorer!: but can the world survive cheap gas?
July 1, 1998... Remember the days when we were morally obligated to conserve energy? When it was patriotic to drive a small car and go fewer miles? When you were supposed to turn the lights off when you left a room, keep the temperature down at home in the...

McFarms go hog wild. (negative effects of animal farms)(includes related article on small hog farms)
July 1, 1998... "One man can take care of two thousand pigs in one barn. Twenty pigs to a stall. A hundred stalls. I can pay him $25,000 and take home at least 20% on my investment, which is hovering at around $650,000, including the pigs." Jerry Sorokowski spat...

Mexico's highway to hell: native peoples fight for sustainable development. (proposal to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec)(includes related article on the free trade zones of the Americas)
July 1, 1998... The road from the dusty Mexican town of Matias Romero into the mountain village of San Juan Guichicovi is little more than ruts and rocks in August, late in the rainy season. As our truck crests the final hill, the thick forest suddenly opens to...

Socially responsible investing comes of age.
July 1, 1998... Tracy and Tom Hamilton needed a loan to enlarge their organic chicken farm in New Mexico. But though they logged years of success with their crops, the local banks, unfamiliar with organic farming methods, turned them down flat. Today their farm...

Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment.
July 1, 1998... By Sandra Steingraber (New York: Addison-Wesley, 1997) In 1964, two senior scientists at the National Cancer Institute, Wilhelm Hueper and W.C. Conway, wrote, "Cancers of all types and all causes display even under already existing conditions,...

Ask Dr. Dollar. (effect of government bonds owned by foreigners)
July 1, 1998... Dear Dr. Dollar, What portion of government bonds do foreigners own? Are they taxed? And what impact does this have on our economy? - Charles Gamer, Milton, Mass. When its taxes do not cover its expenditures, the U.S. government has to...

Polluters and politics.
July 1, 1998... Half of the largest 100 economies in the world are in fact large corporations, and they all endanger the environment. As of 1995, Mitsubishi, the largest company, had revenues exceeding the Gross Domestic Products of Indonesia, Denmark, and Hong...