The Price of Influence

Data Points:

General Electric lobbying spending 1998 - 2013: $294 million

Jeff Bezos purchase of The Washington Post: $250 million

As prices of prime media properties plummet, America's corporate chieftains have unprecedented opportunities to increase their influence. Prices are now comparable to what the biggest companies are spending on influence.
(Source: Opensecrets.org) 

Read My Data Points Column in the NYT

What the nation got for $800 billion. Data Points is a pointed look at the economy by the numbers.

Listen to our discussion of the sharing economy on NPR

I was a guest on Warren Olney's To The Point program on KCRW yesterday where I discussed the sharing economy and the role of trust.