Rick Romell and Molly Beck report Foxconn now declines to say it plans to build type of factory named in state, local contracts: But in a shift from its stance of two months ago, the company on Wednesday did not offer assurances that it still plans to build the type of liquid crystal display panel plant…
Foxconn
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, Paul Ryan, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC
Trump, Ryan, and Walker Want to Seize Wisconsin Homes to Build Foxconn Plant
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
A video on how Trump, Ryan, and Walker are abusing eminent domain law and seek to destroy the homes of Wisconsinites to build the Foxconn plant is well worth watching. The short video was removed from YouTube over a bogus copyright claim, but it’s back online. (In the time since the video was first published,…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, WEDC
The Next Guest Speaker
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Last winter, the Greater Whitewater Committee, a local 501(c)(6) business league, invited Matt Moroney (a longtime Walker operative) to speak to residents on Foxconn’s many supposed benefits. The Daily Union‘s longtime stenographer correspondent dutifully and uncritically reported on Moroney’s remarks. See A Sham News Story on Foxconn. Over the years, key leaders of this business league have served…
Bad Ideas, City, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, Trump, Uncategorized, WEDC
Foxconn’s (Overwhelmingly) Low-Paying Jobs
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Residents of Whitewater (or at least the ones attracted to corporate welfare) had a chance this winter to hear a state operative extol the benefits of billions in public money for Foxconn. The local 501(c)(6) business league, the Greater Whitewater Committee, brought in a guest speaker to tout the project. See A Sham News Story on…
Bad Ideas, City, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, Trump
Foxconn’s Bait & Switch
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
It’s a groundbreaking ceremony for (a much smaller) Foxconn today. This very morning one reads confirmation – yet again – that taxpayers’ billions for Foxconn are paying for a project that’s now a giant bait & switch. Rick Romell reports Foxconn scales back plans for its first factory in Mount Pleasant: The Foxconn Technology Group manufacturing…
Bad Ideas, City, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, Technology, Trump
Foxconn’s Shabby Workplace Conditions
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
One reads that God, hearing the grumblings of the ancient Israelite community, once fed that people: 11 The LORD said to Moses: 12 I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have your fill of bread, and then you will know that I,…
Bad Ideas, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending, State Capitalism, Technology, Trump
Foxconn’s Ambition is Automation, While Appeasing the Politically Ambitious
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
If there’s ever been an economic con, it’s Foxconn in Wisconsin. The Financial Times describes two key aspects of Foxconn’s character, in a story, Foxconn shifts focus to ‘smart manufacturing.’ Automation, Not Jobs. The new reporting tells us that Foxconn’s working for “automating other manufacturers’ processes.” Of course they are: they’ve a whole business producing robots…
Bad Ideas, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending, Technology
Foxconn in Wisconsin: Not So High Tech After All
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Lauly Li, Cheng Ting-Fang, and Gen Nakamura report Foxconn opts to make smaller displays at Wisconsin plant: OSAKA/TAIPEI — Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn Technology Group, is considering producing small to midsized displays for Apple, automakers and others at its $10 billion factory planned for the U.S. state of Wisconsin, people familiar with the…
Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending
Even Foxconn’s Projections Show a Vulnerable (Replaceable) Workforce
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Here in Whitewater, one has heard the most optimistic (indeed, truly fantastic) projections for Foxconn’s employment opportunities. Look more closely, however, and even under Foxconn and state officials’ self-interested projections on behalf of the project, many of the projected employees will be entry-level workers, as Rick Romell reports: But there’s another aspect of the 22-million-square-foot…
CDA, City, Development, Economics, Foxconn, Government Spending, Local Government, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Another Pig at the Trough
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Jason Stein and Rick Romell report Foxconn: Glass maker could want hundreds of millions of dollars to locate alongside massive Wisconsin factory: To locate in Wisconsin, a key glass supplier to Foxconn wants financial help from the Taiwanese electronics giant or state taxpayers that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. … Corning…
CDA, City, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Local Government, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
A Sham News Story on Foxconn
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
About a month ago, a local business lobbying group in Whitewater invited an operative of the Walker Administration to the city to talk about Foxconn. The nearby Jefferson County Daily Union sent a stringer to cover the presentation. See Foxconn impact outlined in Whitewater. In the 38-paragraph story, the paper simply reproduces – without the…
Bad Ideas, Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Local Government, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
Foxconn as Alchemy: Magic Multipliers
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Foxconn plant isn’t even built yet, but the Walker Admin and its allies (including a few local apologists for corporate welfare in Whitewater) now resort to fantastic, magical claims about how much economic development will come from nearly four billion in taxpayer subsidies. So magical, so fantastic, that they now claim an 18-1 multiplier…
Foxconn
Foxconn Destroys Single-Family Homes
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In Whitewater, one often hears about the importance of single-family homes. Policymakers insist that the city should have more such homes. Strategies for increasing single-family homeownership often involve either restricting or inhibiting rental home purchases, or publicly subsidizing owner-occupied housing starts. Some of those who’d like more single-family homes for Whitewater simultaneously back a Foxconn…
Foxconn, Government Spending, State Capitalism
Foxconn Devours Tens of Millions from State’s Road Repair Budget
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Foxconn has been much touted in Whitewater, with the local business lobby bringing in a longtime political operative to flack the project at a local restaurant. One now reads that Foxconn is devouring funds needed for communities’ road repairs: A new road project serving the $10 billion Foxconn plant in Racine County could reduce funding…