CHAPTER 1
holes in the tax code, U.S. companies are able to defer taxes on foreign income. Closing
all of these loopholes would raise $168 billion,67 according to the Joint Committee on
Taxation, a nonpartisan group serving Congress.68 The loopholes mean lost tax revenue
that would otherwise help fund government programs. It seems reasonable to redirect
$5 billion to $10 billion of the savings from closing these loopholes to strengthening
MEP’s capacity-building work.
Support Entrepreneurship in Low-income Communities
The rate of small business growth in the United States is falling. This is not a recent phenomenon, but a decades-long trend. Compared to other nations with advanced economies,
the United States creates many fewer small businesses each year.71 See Figure 1.9.
BOX 1.3
ON THE BUS TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
“The revival of manufacturing in the U.S. will entail a wave of innovations that raise competitiveness, expand
job opportunities, and advance the construction of a clean energy economy,” says economist Robert Pollin, who
has studied the effects of clean energy investments for the U.S. Department of Energy and the International Labor
Organization.69
In a 2010 article, “Industrial
Figure 1.8 Private- and Public-Sector Share of Total Green
Policy and the Revival of U.S.
Jobs, 2010
Manufacturing,” Pollin argues that
technically it would be easy for
the federal government to expand
the market for clean public transportation and renewable energy
systems. “For example, the federal
government commits to doubling
the number of buses now operating throughout the country, and
requires that all the new buses
operate at high energy efficiency
levels…. Government orders for
clean-energy buses would establish
a guaranteed market for manufacSource: Ethan Pollack (October 10, 2012), “Counting up to green: Assessing the green econoturers.”70
my and its implications for growth and equity,” Economic Policy Institute. Author’s analysis of
Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
www.bread.org/institute?
? 2014 Hunger Report? 51
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