Tag Archives: corporations

Don’t trust corporate charity – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com

13 Apr

On the surface the increased attention big business seems to be paying to general social welfare would appear to be a positive development. Major corporations go out of the way to ease the burdens of normal citizens, in the process dulling some of the harsher aspects of modern capitalism and earning for themselves PR boost. However it bears asking the question, as many good and well intentioned individuals there are sitting in the C-Suites of major companies, what would cause them to expend huge amounts of resources on pursuits which seem to have nothing to do with what their organizations are legally created to do? …

The answer lies in the reality that whatever these organizations put back into the communities in which they operate, communities which are often struggling under the weight of collapsing infrastructure, they expend far greater effort to ensure that they avoid paying their share of tax into public coffers. By avoiding taxes these companies ultimately help eliminate social services, a simulacrum of which they then provide in the form of charitable donations and other public outreach. The company keeps the funds it would’ve otherwise lost to tax and earns PR credibility for its supposed altruism, while the public loses out on the tax revenue which rightfully belongs to it

via Don’t trust corporate charity – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.

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Are U.S. corporations good citizens? – Salon.com

22 Nov

The time is ripe for a reevaluation of the role of the corporation in American society. The passion motivating Occupy Wall Street protesters tells us this, as does the spectacle of a political and economic system that is so clearly broken.

Therefore, in the spirit of contributing to enhancing consumer enlightenment as to how our corporations rank as responsible citizens, Salon is launching a new series: The Corporate Citizen Challenge — an attempt to rate the good citizenship performance of America’s biggest companies.

Look for the first installment the week after Thanksgiving. We’ll start with the big financial institutions that benefited the most from government bailouts. We’ll evaluate them according to a series of metrics: job creation, dollars spent lobbying, total taxes paid, executive compensation, impact on the environment, and others.

via Are U.S. corporations good citizens? – Salon.com.

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America’s corporate tax obscenity – Taxes – Salon.com

3 Nov

The authors discovered that the average effective tax rate — what the companies really paid after government subsidies, tax breaks and various tax dodges were taken into account — was only 18.5 percent, less than half the statutory rate. Fully a quarter of the 280 companies paid under 10 percent.

Remember that fact, the next time someone tries to tell you that American corporations pay the highest income taxes in the free world. The only number that counts is the “effective tax rate.” One of the interesting tidbits provided by the authors is that in many cases, the tax rate on foreign income for many of these companies is actually higher than the effective U.S. rate.

via America’s corporate tax obscenity – Taxes – Salon.com.

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Who Runs the World ? – Network Analysis Reveals ‘Super Entity’ of Global Corporate Control | Planetsave

4 Sep

In the first such analysis ever conducted, Swiss economic researchers have conducted a global network analysis of the most powerful transnational corporations (TNCs). Their results have revealed a core of 787 firms with control of 80% of this network, and a “super entity” comprised of 147 corporations that have a controlling interest in 40% of the network’s TNCs.

via Who Runs the World ? – Network Analysis Reveals ‘Super Entity’ of Global Corporate Control | Planetsave.

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Business with a Conscience: The B Corp

12 Apr

Many small corporations with a conscience, a so-called triple bottom line (profits, people and planet) get stripped of their conscience when bought out by a Big Corporation that’s only interested in short-term share-holder payout, and can be legally held to that goal. Writing in the NYTimes, Tina Rosenberg outlines a new type of corporate organization that can keep its conscience: the B Corp:

To become a certified B Corp, or benefit corporation, a business must pass an examination of how it treats its employees, the environment and the community. A non-profit organization called B Lab sets out the requirements and certifies businesses that meet the standard. The idea is that while any company can claim to be a good corporate citizen, a B Corp can prove it — something valuable for consumers and investors.

B Corps must also procure shareholders’ agreement for a revision of the bylaws to allow business decisions to consider the impact not only on shareholders, but also the workforce, community and the environment. Shareholders are allowed to sue if they feel the directors aren’t doing enough to take social responsibility into account.

The B Corp is backed in four states: Vermont, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Philadelphia gives tax breaks to B Corps. Currently there are 400 certified B Corps, but none that a publicly traded.

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