By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
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Wall Street’s Taxpayer Scam: How Local Governments Get Fleeced — and So Do You (Salon)
Elias Isquith interviews Roosevelt Institute Fellow Saqib Bhatti about his new report on how governments can push back against Wall Street's predatory deals.
Could you explain to me what the relationship is like between Wall Street and municipal governments? Or is it too varied to say there’s any single dynamic?
There are, of course, some nuances from place to place, but in general there are some broad trends. The relationship between municipalities and Wall Street is largely broken because there’s a very strong imbalance of power that exists or, at least, is perceived to exist. Banks typically set the rules of the game. They make recommendations for different types of deals municipalities should be doing, they pitch deals to them. Typically, municipalities may bargain around the margins but largely accept the rules as they’re set by Wall Street.
When I say there’s a perception of imbalance of power I use that word because, in reality, municipalities could have a lot more power if they chose to wield it. If they actually chose to play hardball or question some of the underlying assumptions that Wall Street brings into various municipal finance deals, they could potentially fight to get a better deal or to question the entire framework around how some fees are structured and so forth.
Follow below the fold for more.
Food Pantries Stretched to Breaking Point by Food Stamp Cuts (AJAM)
Ned Resnikoff reports on the crisis facing food pantries in NYC, where one-third of food banks and soup kitchens had to turn people away in September.
Corporate America Is Using the Sharing Economy to Turn Us Into Temps (TNR)
Noam Scheiber says the sharing economy's expansion into temp work is part of a trend of workforce restructuring from hiring staff for peak loads to hiring the absolute minimum.
This Is the Next Big Fight Between Progressives and the Wall Street Dems (The Nation)
Senator Warren and others are protesting the nomination of Antonio Weiss to a major role in Treasury, citing his work on tax-avoiding practices like corporate inversions, writes Zoë Carpenter.
Let Old Labor Die (In These Times)
Jeremy Gantz reviews Tom Geoghegan's new book, which prescribes new models of labor organizing that are more democratic, outside of the bounds of the National Labor Relations Board.
New on Next New Deal
Artisanal Millennials and the Resurrection of Free Labor Ideology
Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network Senior Fellow for Economic Development Brit Byrd says growing preferences for artisanal products cannot be allowed to erase the importance of wage labor in our economy.