The common belief that cities must compete for corporate investment is deeply flawed, Schragger contends. Instead of chasing stadiums and corporate HQs with tax breaks and giveaways, cities are most effective when they invest in people, infrastructure, and essential services.

Rich Schragger is a legal scholar and author of City Power. A Harvard Law graduate and former Harvard Law Review editor, he clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals and has taught at leading institutions including Columbia, NYU, and the University of Chicago. 

Robert Perkinson is an associate professor of American Studies and the director of the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series. His book, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, won the John Kenneth Galbraith Award.

Production: Willow Hutchison

Recording and Sound Editing Assistance: Adeel Meer

The Better Tomorrow Speaker Series features incisive conversations on the most pressing issues of our time. The series is a joint venture of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the Learning Coalition, and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation. It is administered by the College of Arts, Languages, and Letters and in cooperation with the UH Foundation.

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