Lobbying America
by Benjamin C. Waterhouse · first published 2013
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…Lawrence Lessig: http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Lost-Money-Corrupts-Congress/... The Influence Machine: The Influence Machine: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Capture of American Life Lobbying America: http://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-Twe... And those are "establishment" sources -- you'd get far better coverage in more outspoken and critical voices. Regarding Apple in particular: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/21/us-tech-tax-...…
on “Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014” ↗…criticisms of so called sunshine laws are unconvincing. Any one supporting more direct democracy will favor such reforms. As for why things took a right-wing turn in the mid-70s, I prefer this thesis: Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-So... TL;DR: Titans of industry felt persecuted, rolled back The New Deal. "Lobbying America…
on “A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality” ↗Lobbying America is a good history of corporate USA's transition from serving the public good to whatever we have today. https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-So... Amazon's blurb: "Lobbying America…
on “Distributism” ↗…stakeholders. A major reversal of position.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Roundtable This is an illuminating history of the lobbying and policy efforts to rollback The New Deal and so forth. Lobbying America: The Politics Of Business From Nixon To NAFTA https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-So... TLDR: The titans of industry who partnered with government for the greater good were pushed…
on “Bigger v. Facebook, Inc.” ↗This history of the Business Roundtable blew my mind. It's among Caro's The Power Broker and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States for clarity and myth busting. Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17942038-lobbying-americ... "Lobbying America" tells the story of the political mobilization of American business in…
on “Not an Amazon Problem” ↗…cycle. But I'm not holding my breath. Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich [2003] https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Democracy-Political-History-Am... Here's a more recent account: Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA [2015] https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-So... Edit: I changed "Last decade" to "Around 2005". Time flies. My bad.
on “Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?” ↗…historically done to redistribute wealth. There are many, many useful complimentary narratives about Milton Friedman, Chicago School of Economics, Heritage Foundation, etc. Another "also true" story is Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-So... Whereas other histories detail the obvious persons, ideologies, and culture war stuff, this…
on “Democracy Is Losing Its Race with Disruption” ↗Yes and: Two (of many, many) books which detail two separate efforts to dismantle our administrative state are: Lobbying America https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691168016 the history of how Business Roundtable, Chamber of Commerce, et al reacted to The New Deal by transitioning from trade groups to political players. Democracy in Chains…
on “FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices” ↗We're talking about this (again) because of Business Roundtable's updated statement of purpose. This history of Business Roundtable was illuminating to me: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10135.html Lobbying America The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA "Lobbying America tells the story of the political mobilization of American business in the 1970s and 1980s. Benjamin Waterhouse traces the rise and ultimate…
on “Milton Friedman Was Wrong” ↗Yup. The books Democracy in Chains, Lobbying America, and Dark Money are three (of many, many) good intros to the conservative reaction to the The New Deal.
on “Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations” ↗…(due to civil rights era reforms) undermined unity, foreign competition devalued domestic labor, and just plain old exhaustion. https://jacobin.com/2021/01/1970s-decade-strike-workers-labo... The book Lobbying America is a history of Capital's decades long effort to roll back The New Deal, from the vantage of corporate America. https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-America-Politics-Business-So... FWIW, that effort grew…
on “Jimmy Carter: Unlucky President, Lucky Man” ↗The book Lobbying America details the history of Business Roundtable and replacing The New Deal with Reaganism. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17942038-lobbying-americ... Sure, course corrections are always needed, but there's…
on “Not an Amazon Problem” ↗