Why do our politicians let the entertainment industry and individuals like Donald Trump bilk taxpayers, hijack public policy and hurt economic investment? It is widely believed, that a city in possession of a fortune must be in want of a partner who will drive economic development and thus be worth a substantial dowry of tax abatements, subsidies, and grants. These partners always prove faithless, though, especially when it comes to the entertainment industry. Never date an actor, as they say. From stadiums and movie productions to casinos and mega-malls to convention centers and hotels, cities and states have paid out billions of dollars to the world's corporate titans in an attempt to boost their economies, create new and better jobs, and lure well-known events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl to within their borders, not to mention give officials a chance to have their pictures taken with celebrities. That Big Entertainment drives bigger economies is a myth, however, one that has nonetheless permeated every facet of policy making despite the overwhelming evidence that it results in a raw deal for the taxpaying public. In The Billionaire Boondoggle, Garofalo takes readers on a tour of publically-subsidized corporate America to explain how that myth came to be, how much money America's elected officials throw away, and why courting Big Entertainment just courts disaster.

A former agribusiness reporter critically assesses the corporate meat industry as demonstrated by the practices of Tyson Foods, documenting the meat supply's takeover by a few powerful companies who are raising prices and outmaneuvering reforms.

When a distressed urban neighborhood gentrifies, all the ratios change: poor to rich; Black and Brown to white; unskilled to professional; vulnerable to secure. Vacant lots and toxic dumps become condos and parks. Upscale restaurants open and pawn shops close. But the low-income residents who held on when the neighborhood was at its worst, who worked so hard to make it better, are gradually driven out. For them, the neighborhood hasn’t been restored so much as destroyed. Tracing the history of Olneyville, a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, that has traveled the long arc from urban decay to the cusp of gentrification, Joseph Margulies asks the most important question facing cities today: Can we restore distressed neighborhoods without setting the stage for their destruction? Is failure the inevitable cost of success? Based on years of interviews and on-the-ground observation, Margulies argues that to save Olneyville and thousands of neighborhoods like it, we need to empower low-income residents by giving them ownership and control of neighborhood assets. His model for a new form of neighborhood organization—the “neighborhood trust”—is already gaining traction nationwide and promises to give the poor what they have never had in this country: the power to control their future.

It is difficult to find an area of public policy more plagued by misunderstanding than energy policy. Even worse, every time the subject is raised, we are obligated to get mired in pointless arguments about the weather. This book helps set the record straight. Not convinced? Consider some of these inconvenient truths: The cost of green energy climate remediation is anywhere from 10-to-1,000 times greater than the damage from the climate change it attempts to alleviate. Germany, the worlds leader in solar energy, will spend more than $280 billion by 2030 on solar subsidies. But all of that investment will only forestall 22nd century global warming by 37 hours. Obamas carbon tax would cost Americans $1.2 trillion over just ten years. But it would only reduce the midrange 3 degree modeled 22nd century global temperature increase by 0.038 degrees Celsius. At their current emissions growth rate, it will take China nine months to replace the entire U.S. emissions cut that Obama wants to achieve over seven years, at a staggering cost in American jobs and lost economic growth. The U.S. biofuel program imposes a cost on consumers 9,862 times greater than any climate benefit they or their distant progeny will ever derive. This is not another skeptical global warming polemic but an economic evaluation of how and why green energy will fail. The world has too many pressing needs. For the money Obama squandered on just a single bankrupt crony solar company, the U.S. could have prevented 300,000 childhood malaria deaths in poor countries. A thoroughly researched, heavily documented book by an expert in his field, it will demonstrate in meticulous detail how wasteful and economically inefficient Obamas green energy dead end future will be compared to other worthy alternatives. Its time to end the hysterical climate cynicism and get on humanitys side.

In Democracy 2.0, we feature a series of evocative, international case studies that document the impact of alternative and community use of media, in general, and Web 2.0 in particular. The aim is to foster critical reflection on social realities, developing the context for coalition-building in support of social change and social justice.