Banking, Finance & Services

The extravagant spectacle is expected to dwarf the record $95 million spent by Democrats this year. In fact, the Republicans will spend more than the $130 million raised by Al Gore for his entire 2000 campaign. Read More

Media corporations give millions, receive billions. The cost for two weeks of ad-driven debate on Kerry's military record cost almost $1 million. Political advertising will bring over $1.5 billion to media corporations this election season. In turn they will invest millions in campaign contributions and lobbying. Meanwhile, substantive political coverage continues to decline. Read More

Ten years after the first democratic elections in South Africa brought the African National Congress to power, critics claim that privatization and neoliberal economic policies have usurped the promise of democracy. Soweto Resists Privatization Moves Trevor Ngwane/Walter TurnerANC Privatizations Fail to Deliver in South Africa, Patrick Bond Read More

Rendon Group Wins Hearts and Minds in Business, Politics and War The Rendon Group is a consulting firm whose services range from creating "a favorable environment before privatization begins" to helping justify war. Rick Rendon, a founding partner talks to CorpWatch about his latest project, "Empowering Peace." Read More

Tobacco Industry Saves on Soft Money, Spends On Advertising and Lobbyists The quadrennial special-interest cash race is on. Although the McCain-Feingold Act has blocked some of the flow, the political system is still awash with tobacco dollars. Read More

Two years after Congress enacted the sweeping corporate-accountability act known as "SOX," corporate officials are hoping their complaints will take the teeth out of the legislation's power to regulate. Read More

In the face of criticism over its controversial construction projects, Bechtel has taken media manipulation to the next level, employing a three-pronged approach to weaving a rosy story for the public and investors. Read More

As the outsourcing of jobs has become a hot election year issue in the US, call centers in India continue to multiply. Local workers answer calls for US corporations at a fraction of the cost of an American worker. Read More

Iraqi ministries will now be able to borrow billions of dollars to buy much-needed equipment from overseas suppliers, but only by mortgaging the national oil revenues through a bank managed by JP Morgan Chase. Read More

The Iraqi port of Umm Qasr -- once a crown jewel of the Iraqi economy -- is now a symbol of a new era of foreign domination. It's run by SSA, a politically-connected firm with an ugly history of anti-labor policies. Read More