Dollars & Sense articles from November 1997

Dollars & Sense archives from November 1997

Culture jammers. (youth-oriented magazine 'Adbusters')(Active Culture)(Column)
November 1, 1997... Who would have thought a pair of documentary filmmakers and wilderness devotees from the deep woods of British Columbia would launch a rowdy leftist rag that uses cutting-edge advertising techniques to get the better of glitzy ad agencies?...

Class war. (business and government policies against workers)(Comment)(Column)
November 1, 1997... Watching Washington's cognoscenti perform on the Sunday morning political talk shows is much like watching blowfish, cockatoos and other showy critters featured on the Animal Channel. What a hoot to see them strut their stuff! My favorites are...

Diary of the second Zapatista Encuentro. (Intercontinental Meeting for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism organized by Zapatista rebels in Mexico)(Making sense)(Column)
November 1, 1997... Day 1: My friends from Chicago and I get off the bus in San Sebastian, a working-class suburb of Madrid with multistory housing projects and dusty sidewalks. We have only the barest sketch of directions. Faded posters stuck on lampposts and...

A contract worth fighting for. (Teamsters' successful strike against United Parcel Service)
November 1, 1997... Memories of the Teamsters' success at United Parcel Service (UPS) are already receding in the face of Ron Carey's fundraising troubles and the upcoming replay of the union's leadership election. Before the memories fade - and with apologies to...

The European Monetary Union: Greenspan's Federal Reserve writ large. (Federal Reserve Chmn Alan Greenspan)
November 1, 1997... Last June more than 10,000 people converged on Paris for a "Jobs for Europe" march. As Time International wrote, "It's clear that people across the European Union still believe in Europe - but a kinder, gentler Europe than the one bankers and...

Can coops go global? Mondragon is trying. (Mondragon cooperatives in Spain's Basque region)(includes related articles on Italian and Mondragon cooperatives)
November 1, 1997... The Mondragon cooperatives in the Basque region of Spain form the best-known coop system anywhere, and have inspired emulators the world over. Launched in 1956, the Mondragon complex has grown from a single, five-member coop manufacturing kitchen...

Not to worry, say business lobbyists.(Global warming: how big business controls the debate)
November 1, 1997... Delegates from around the world are preparing for December meetings in Kyoto, Japan to finalize an agreement limiting emissions of greenhouse gases. But industry associations representing large producers and users of fossil fuels are gearing up...

Can we afford to stop global warming? (includes related articles on economic costs and benefits of carbon dioxide emissions)(Global warming: how big business controls the debate)
November 1, 1997... How serious is the global warming threat? Unless we reduce emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, will the earth gradually heat up by a few degrees, raising the ocean levels and putting low-lying coastal areas under water? Will we face...

More wealth for the wealthy: the estate tax giveaway and what to do about it.
November 1, 1997... "In terms of substantive arguments, this estate tax argument is about as bad as it gets," says Larry Summers, Undersecretary of the Treasury. He can't see any case for cutting estate taxes other than "selfishness." But in today's conservative...

'High road' job creation: the New Party's urban agenda.
November 1, 1997... Pam Jordan is single, has three children, and is a long-time resident of central city Milwaukee - a place of staggering unemployment and one of the highest black infant mortality rates in the nation. This past May, Jordan started a full-time job...

The Community Reinvestment Act: a law that works. (includes related article on Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group's experience)
November 1, 1997... At an American Bankers Association convention in the early 1980s, bank consultant Ken Thomas was surprised to hear howls of laughter emerge from one of the meeting rooms. He stepped in to find the speaker ending his presentation with a flourish,...

Ask Dr. Dollar. (question-and-answer on capital gains tax)(Ask Dr. Dollar) (Question and Answer)(Column)
November 1, 1997... Dear Dr. Dollar, I am a flaming liberal on most subjects, but there are a few where I find myself at odds with my liberal buddies. One is the capital gains tax. If I bought a home in 1960 for $20,000, it is probably worth $100,000 today. If I...

Divided Planet: The Ecology of Rich and Poor.(In review)
November 1, 1997... "Environmentalism is only now reaching its political maturity," says Tom Athanasiou in Divided Planet: The Ecology of Rich and Poor. Starting from this simple premise, Athanasiou lays out an ambitious array of issues a mature movement needs to...

Tax cuts: Clinton and Congress feed the wealthy.(Economy in Numbers)(Column)
November 1, 1997... The Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997 promised tax relief to all U.S. citizens, rich and poor. "Don't believe the lies that this is a tax cut for the rich," assured Republican Congressman Dave Weldon of Florida. "This is a tax cut for the middle...