Wednesday Wig-Out: More Economic Terrorism

 Michael Corkery / New York Times:
A Macy's Goes From Mall Mainstay to Homeless Shelter

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Karleen Smith used to work at the Macy’s in Landmark Mall, putting price tags on summer dresses, housewares and the latest styles of shoes.

On Saturday, Ms. Smith, 57, returned to her former store, not as an employer or a customer, but as a resident.

The former Macy’s in this vacant shopping mall outside Washington has been transformed into a homeless shelter.

[...]

As shopping malls struggle to survive in the era of Amazon, communities are looking for new uses for all the retail space. Some empty stores are finding another life as trampoline parks, offices, college classrooms and churches.

At the vacant Macy’s in Alexandria, the Carpenter’s Shelter, a nonprofit group, moved into its temporary home last weekend, 15 months after the last shopper rang out. The former store now provides 60 beds, hot meals and showers for families and for single men and women who are having trouble finding a place to live in a city with a scarcity of affordable housing.

Did we hear "the era of Amazon"?

 Maya Kosoff / Vanity Fair:
Amazon Crushes a Small Tax That Would Have Helped the Homeless

Discussion:

Emma Russell / New Republic:   Amazon plays hard ball on a tax to help Seattle's homeless.

Christian Britschgi / Hit & Run:   Seattle Now Wants to Repeal Controversial Amazon Tax

Emma Roller / Splinter:   Thank God, Amazon and Starbucks Won't Have to Pay Incrementally More in Taxes to Help The Homeless

And how are those Trumpy tax cuts workin' out for ya, workin' Americans?

Workers’ wages fall after
passage of GOP tax cuts

Trump's corporate tax cut hasn't
benefited workers like he said it would.

Then they wonder why people stop looking for work & take up opioid addiction."Dropout Boogie" - THE FALLThe Velvet Underground - "Heroin"