Article
filed under
Broadband
| Written by
Lisa Gonzalez
|
| Updated on
Apr 2, 2013
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.muninetworks.org/content/level-playing-field-padded-public-dollars-private-providers
Municipal broadband networks have been gaining traction across the country. It’s easy to see why: In many rural and low-income communities, privately offered broadband services are nonexistent. In its 2012 Broadband Progress Report the Federal Communications Commission counted nearly 20 million Americans (the vast majority living in rural areas) beyond the reach of broadband. The… Continue reading
Article
filed under
The Public Good
| Written by
David Morris
|
| Updated on
Jan 9, 2012
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/is-the-super-bowl-a-socialist-enterprise/
Is the Super Bowl a socialist enterprise? Yes the language is provocative but not, I believe, inappropriate. After all Indiana, the site of the next Super Bowl, is currently governed by those who insist government should play a minimal role and the word they, and their Republican counterparts around the country use to describe those… Continue reading
Featured
Resource
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
Stacy Mitchell
|
| Updated on
Dec 22, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/key-studies-walmart-and-bigbox-retail/
We have compiled the best research on how big-box retailers and independent businesses affect communities and local economies. You will find summaries of the findings of dozens of studies that examine the impact of Walmart and other big retailers on jobs, small businesses, tax revenue, poverty rates, and more, as well as research on the social and economic contributions of independent businesses. Continue reading
Article
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
Stacy Mitchell
|
| Updated on
Sep 10, 2011
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/dont-subsidize-big-boxes-local-shops-expense/
Handing out multimillion-dollar subsidies to large chains has become commonplace in much of the country. But when governments use public money to woo national chains, economic growth and job creation are negligible, and independent retailers suffer, Stacy Mitchell argues in this commentary for Business Week.
Continue reading
Article
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
Stacy Mitchell
|
| Updated on
Mar 12, 2009
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/four-corporate-tax-loopholes-states-should-close/
Doing so would ease budget shortfalls and restore a measure of fairnessfor small businesses, which lack access to these loopholes and end upshouldering a heavier tax burden than their big competitors. Some evidence even suggests that leveling the playing field may help spur entrepreneurialism and job growth. Continue reading
Article
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
Justin Dahlheimer
|
| Updated on
Feb 18, 2009
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/years-subsidizing-retail-and-nothing-show-it/
Despite an enormous commitment of public funding to support retail development, neither taxable sales nor retail employment has grown significantly in the St. Louis, a new report finds. The report concludes that development incentives have done nothing to boost tax revenue in the metro and "the overall fiscal health of local governments in the region is increasingly tenuous. Continue reading
Rule
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
admin
|
| Updated on
Dec 9, 2008
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/rule/banning-public-subsidies-for-big-retailers/2303-2/
In July 2007, Arizona adopted the following law, which bars municipalities in the Phoenix metropolitan region from providing tax breaks or incentives to retail development. Continue reading
Rule
filed under
Independent Business, The Public Good
| Written by
admin
|
| Updated on
Dec 1, 2008
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/rule/banning-public-subsidies-for-big-retailers/
Over the last twenty years, cities and counties have provided massive public subsidies to finance the construction of big-box stores, shopping malls, and, most recently, Amazon.com warehouses. Continue reading
Article
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
Stacy Mitchell
|
| Updated on
Nov 25, 2008
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/retailers-legally-skimming-sales-taxes-paid-customers/
Little-noticed laws in more than half the states allow retailers to keep a portion of the sales taxes they collect from shoppers. The practice is costing states over $1 billion a year and lining the pockets of large chains, notably Wal-Mart. Continue reading
Article
filed under
Independent Business
| Written by
Stacy Mitchell
|
| Updated on
Mar 6, 2008
The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/more-states-close-tax-loophole-gives-chains-edge/
For years, chain retailers have exploited a loophole present in the tax laws of about half the states to escape paying billions of dollars in state income taxes. Efforts to close these loopholes have faced an uphill struggle, but the momentum may finally be shifting, thanks to research that has exposed the extent of the problem and its primary corporate beneficiaries, as well as new activism by independent business owners, who are breaking rank with powerful business groups to call for tax fairness. Continue reading
