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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The plastics crisis, accounting for harms, corporate power and human rights. Plus: Big AI goes all Doctor Evil. The new Critical Takes on Corporate Power newsletter is out: criticaltakes.org/newsletters/... For fresh, succinct insights each month, click here: criticaltakes.org/newsletters/

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

So the world's investors could either: 1. Channel more money into renewables, sustainable business models and other useful things for society. 2. Pour two trillion dollars down a golden toilet whose flush handle is held by a man screaming "OMG I'm going to destroy the world, somebody stop me!"

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Rasmus Corlin Christensen @phdskat.org · 29/09/2026

"We show that carbon-intensive (‘brown’) firms face lower [corporate] tax burdens than less carbon-intensive (‘green’) firms (..) representing a subsidy of at least nine times the statutory carbon tax rate" www.wider.unu.edu/sites/defaul...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Is the AI bubble finally about to subside? (WSJ is the Wall Street Journal).

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

On Critical Takes this week: 1. Corporate power and the plastics crisis: criticaltakes.org/society-and-... 2. Making corporations book harms to society and nature as costs: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat... 3. Ten big ideas for curbing corporate power criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

New! Corporate power and the global plastics crisis. @policyrelevant.bsky.social talks to Critical Takes about the huge scale of plastic pollution and waste, why recycling isn't the answer and the prospects for a global treaty. Listen here: criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026

Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Fascinating account of how China came to drive the green transition: not through a master plan or "climate leadership". It offers helpful context for thinking about corporate power and the global (too slow) transition. (you have to subscribe but it's free). www.break-down.org/an-accidenta...

break-down.org

An Accidental Climate Revolution

Rather than taking up the mantle of "climate leadership", China is walking a mundane path to global transformation.

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · 16/09/2026

It's #SOTEU day in Brussels! 🎉 von der Leyen will tell MEPs "our democracy protects what matters", while the Commission has spent the past year churning out deregulation omnibuses that do exactly the opposite. As Orwell would say: 2 + 2 = 5. 🙃 🎥 Watch our take 👇

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Giant tech firms, already dodging US tax, now get to write off the giant costs of AI investment against their tax bills as well.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Very useful resource here: a database of court cases against companies involved in transition minerals and renewables around the world.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This thread, and the blog linked to here, offer really useful information about what AI agents actually do. And for non-techies, the importance of finding the right metaphors to talk about AI as a set of technologies - not "rogue agents" or "swarms".

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

If the AI bubble bursts, it's going to be a biggie. Here's the boss of Anthropic, the "OMG we've created Skynet!" people, preparing the ground for a government bailout if/when it becomes clear that they can't pay their debts.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This excellent takedown of oil industry propaganda about fossil fuel production makes a vital point. The most insidious form of corporate power is the power to shape what society considers to be possible.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Scientists point to climate "positive tipping points." The article makes clear that reaching these points means taking on corporate power worldwide. Not just in Big Oil but Big Finance and Big Commodities (= deforestation) as well. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

Climate solutions most likely to reach ‘positive tipping points’ revealed by scientists

Global shift towards clean electricity could trigger ‘cascade’ of progress, helping reduce air pollution, cut waste and revive oceans

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

New on Critical Takes on Corporate Power: Why corporations should have to account for the harms they cause to society and nature as a cost on their balance sheets. Jeremy Nicholls of Social Value International explains: Listen here: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

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Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

The UK media is terrified of AI. It's destroying the click economy the media's existed off for 20 years. Having pressured government to and do something about AI stealing content, media groups are now doing individual deals with the likes of Google >>>

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · 01/09/2026

REVEALED: #BigTech and #BigOil are teeming up to push new gas-powered #datacentres, and greenwashing them with promises of carbon capture. But carbon capture is a paper tiger: new fossil gas just means new emissions, worsening the climate crisis' deadly impacts. corporateeurope.org/en/2026/08/d...

corporateeurope.org

A deadly alliance of Big Tech and Big Oil | Corporate Europe Observatory

Big Tech and Big Oil are teeming up to push new gas-powered data centres, and greenwashing them with promises of carbon capture. But carbon capture is a paper tiger: new fossil gas just means new emis...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

An analysis of the settlement of the US court case against Meta for addicting young people to harmful content. Suggesting it's an important victory over an arrogant tech giant and, at the same time, not nearly enough to curb its power. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world – and what now for other claims against firm?

Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the Netherlands

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Since 2019, corporate profits have grown 52 percent. Wages have grown 12 percent. Read that back. This is what a rigged economy looks like. [Chart by @groundwork.bsky.social]

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

US corporate shareholders get more, US workers get less. Couldn't be any more transparent, could it.

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Tjeerd Royaards @tjeerdroyaards.com · 19/08/2026

Solution. English version of last week's cartoon for Dutch newspaper Trouw. #ClimateCrisis #greed #profit

Cartoon showing a giant, ringing, old-fashioned alarm clock in a dry, desolate landscape. The clock has skull-shaped bells and the label 'Climate Alarm'. The clock is partially hidden behind a wall displaying advertisements promoting SUVs, cruises, and air travel. People walk by, ignoring the ringing clock because they are all wearing headphones. These are available at a booth with a large sign reading 'FREE Noise Cancelling Headphones - Offered by: TATA Steel, Chevron, KLM, and Shell'

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Interesting long blog about AI mania creating a cult-like atmosphere inside big companies. Makes these companies sound like mediaeval monarchies which punish courtiers who dare to contradict the king. ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mani... Via @edzitron.com, a must-follow on the AI bubble.

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Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Nine years after the Grenfell Tower fire, the company whose flammable product covered the building has yet to face meaningful accountability. Today, we’re publishing a new report on Arconic, corporate malpractice, and the role of law. 🧵

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Trump's US is a profound challenge for the global anti-corruption movement whose solutions assume that most states agree, most of the time, that corruption is bad. www.wsj.com/finance/trum...

wsj.com

Trump Family’s World Liberty Financial Gets Preliminary Approval to Launch a Bank

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gives the flagship crypto venture a conditional approval to be a trust bank.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Well, this is interesting! This informative paper argues that Chinese firms have got ahead in cleantech partly because in the US and Europe, policy is overly influenced by "grey" corporate interests - incumbent companies which produce or use fossil fuels. 1/2

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Interesting take on ultra-processed foods here: that companies are suing governments because they know they're losing the argument and hope to spin out the profits a bit longer. It makes a case for the cumulative effect of small, incremental campaigning wins. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Why are ultra-processed food firms panicking and suing? Because they know time is running out | Felicity Lawrence

As the harm caused by their products becomes more evident, manufacturers are resorting to denial and lawsuits to keep regulation at bay, says former Guardian special correspondent Felicity Lawrence

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

A clear account of how unitary taxation of multinational profits might work. With a simple answer to the problem of source countries' profits from resource extraction - remove them from apportionment. (Profits from mineral processing in the country of extraction might also need to be removed).

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

If the AI bubble bursts, corporate power may briefly go out of fashion with political elites in rich countries. How could we exploit such a moment? I think we'd need to make big arguments and try to change the discourse. For instance, with this sort of thing: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

One of the big drivers of inequality is corporate power, which extracts profits from society and channels them to the affluent minority. A lot of people have ideas for what to do about corporate power. The key is to put all those ideas together. Like this: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Corporate power worsens inequality, fuels the destruction of nature and impinges on democracy. So, how to curb that power? Lots of ideas are out there already. Here's what it looks like when you put some of them side by side: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

So, what to do about the power of multinationals? Ten big ideas from across civil society and why they need to be combined in a single agenda. criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

New on Critical Takes: Ten proposals for curbing corporate power. criticaltakes.org/the-corporat... Ideas from across civil society which could go into a common agenda for limiting and ultimately transforming that power.

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

A very dense but invigorating argument here about how and why the AI investment bubble bursts (though not when).

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Transnational Institute @tninstitute.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

What does cancer research have to do with the climate crisis? For Hamza Hamouchene, everything. Drawing on his journey from lab to activism, he shows how the same capitalist logic — treating symptoms, protecting profits — is killing us twice. www.tni.org/en/article/f...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The UK was bullied into doing a terrible deal with the US which requires our public health service to pay higher prices for drugs to pharmaceutical companies. No-one benefits except Big Pharma. Including British Big Pharma, parts of which already get big public subsidies through our tax system.

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Trócaire @trocaire.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

What do you do when you want less public engagement & more chats with corporations, but your own rules say you can’t? If you're the EU, you just change the rules! We've joined 59 orgs to reject #CorporateCapture & call on the European Commission to reconsider its Better Regulations plans.

corporateeurope.org

A slide away from better regulation, not progress towards it | Corporate Europe Observatory

59 civil society organisations and trade union organisations speak out against the Commission’s plans to change its approach to law-making. They denounce four elements, in particular: bypassing of imp...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The heatwave, salmon and tomatoes and corporate capture of the state. Plus: ten (draft) proposals for curbing corporate power. The new Critical Takes newsletter is out: criticaltakes.org/newsletters/...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

On Critical Takes now. Fish farming, greenhouse labour and food imperialism: criticaltakes.org/society-and-... How to think about corporate capture of the state: criticaltakes.org/society-and-... Investigating a multinational? Check this handy resource: criticaltakes.org/society-and-... 1/2

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

New on Critical Takes: The Salmon and the Tomato Neal Haddaway shows that intensive food production is rooted in "food imperialism", causing abuses of labour, nature and poorer communities, and explains what we can do about it. Read here: criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Here's a strong paper from the UK about replacing rent-seeking private capital in parts of the economy with public corporations under democratic control. Important because we're about to get a new prime minister in the UK who might actually do some of this. actionnetwork.org/user_files/u...

actionnetwork.org

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 16/06/2026

Exclusive: I have seen OpenAI's audited financials for 2024 and 2025. In 2025, OpenAI had $13.07 billion in revenue and $34 billion in costs. $867 million of its revenue came from SoftBank, and $303 million came from Microsoft. www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-op...

wheresyoured.at

Exclusive: OpenAI Losses Increased Nearly 8X in 2025, With Spending Hitting $34 Billion

Soundtrack: In Flames - Colony To further support my independent journalism, please subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $7 a month or $70 a year. If you’re subscribed to the free newsletter and ...

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

New! Corporate capture of the state: what it looks like around the world and how to push it back. Benjamin Cokelet of Empower talks to Critical Takes: criticaltakes.org/society-and-... Key quote: "There's no support within the public for corporate capture. Everyone looks at it as corruption."

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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This story is ridiculous & a perfect illustration of the flaws of the EU's tech sovereignty approach. The EU Commission is implementing a US model running on Amazon cloud to rank job candidates. Ignoring potential algorithmic biases, black box decision-making, privacy risks and more dependency.

euractiv.com

EU turns to US-powered AI to rank job candidates | Euractiv

With its ever-growing list of candidates, the European Commission is preparing to deploy an AI tool powered by Anthropic's model to shortlist them

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Critical Takes on Corporate Power @criticaltakes.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A good article here on the EU's timid attempts to reduce its reliance on US Big Tech, based on a cargo-cult view of AI. (And the ultimate aim should not be to replace unaccountable US tech giants with unaccountable European tech giants.) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Europe is starting to break up with US big tech. But it’s still abiding by the Silicon Valley rulebook | Max von Thun

The European Commission has unveiled its plans for digital sovereignty. Its proposals betray a disappointing lack of vision, says Max von Thun of the Open Markets Institute Europe

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