There is a Scandal Lurking in Your Community

What do Wal-Mart, Dell, Fidelity Investments, Boeing, and Cabela’s have in common? They’re all part of a $50 billion a year scam in which—in the name of "job creation"—corporations play states and cities against each other to win hefty taxpayer subsidies that routinely exceed $100,000 per job. But do they provide more jobs, higher wages, or improved living standards in exchange?

In The Great American Jobs Scam, Greg LeRoy exposes these deals for what they are—no-strings-attached free rides for corporations that rarely create any new jobs. In fact, after securing these packages, many companies lay people off, pay poverty wages, or even relocate to other states.

The Great American Jobs Scam is a costly bait-and-switch that swindles communities in more ways than one. They lose jobs—or gain jobs so low-paying they do nothing to help the community—and they lose revenue through massive corporate tax breaks. That means fewer resources for maintaining schools, public services, and infrastructure.

LeRoy exposes corporations' careful orchestration of this scam, dissects government and corporate mumbo-jumbo with plain talk, and offers commonsense reforms that will give taxpayers powerful new tools to protect our communities.

“Here is the secret history of our economic times, a tale of public larceny told plainly and painstakingly and also with a dash of mordant humor. Our erstwhile corporate benefactors have taken us all for a ride. This book is the first step on the long road back.”
—Thomas Frank, author of What’s the Matter With Kansas?

“LeRoy has his finger on the pulse of what's ailing American communities and destroying jobs and our environment in the process. More importantly, he offers clear, common sense solutions to fix the system. Companies like Wal-Mart aren’t going to want you to read this book, which is all the more reason why you should.”
—Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club

“Why aren’t we all getting rich on the gazillion jobs being created by corporate tax cuts? Because, as this book reveals, the system is rigged: corporations get huge subsidies while workers get trickle-down lip service.”
—Jim Hightower, author of Thieves in High Places and Let’s StopBeating Around the Bush