By Michelle Celarier “Soon after economist William Lazonick became a fellow at Harvard Business School in 1984, the world he had studied for decades began to radically change. Instead of plowing their profits back into their businesses, companies were being…
AIR ANALYSIS
Comments on economic issues and developments published by AIR researchers and affiliates
Did Boeing prioritize profits over safety? (Interview with William Lazonick)
By Warren Olney “Since March some 387 Boeing 737 Max jets have been grounded by regulators and airlines with no end in sight. Boeing profits have tanked. Last month the company recorded its biggest ever quarterly loss and deliveries are at…
After Over Three Decades, Rebel Economist Breaks Through to Washington. Here’s How He Did It.
By Lynn Parramore “The idea that businesses are run to maximize profits for shareholders is just plain wrong, says William Lazonick Ever heard that a corporation’s sole duty is to maximize value for shareholders? In the go-go ‘80s, business schools,…
The Economist Who Put Stock Buybacks in Washington’s Crosshairs
In 1984, an economics professor named William Lazonick joined the faculty at the Harvard Business School, just in time to witness a shift in economic thought. Lazonick, who is seventy-four, had grown up in Toronto and earned a Ph.D. in…
Boeing 737 MAX 8: A Story of Profits Over Safety?
BySam Seder Interview of William Lazonick by Sam Seder… [Click HERE to watch the interview]
Make Passengers Safer? Boeing Just Made Shareholders Richer.
Make Passengers Safer? Boeing Just Made Shareholders Richer. nd none more so than their own executives
Have stock buybacks gone too far?
By William Lazonick and segment guest (Jeremy Siegel) “Fueled by the lower corporate tax rate, share buybacks among S&P 500 companies shot to a fourth consecutive record in the last quarter of 2018, according to Standard & Poor’s. What’s more…
How Stock Buybacks Undermine Sustainable Prosperity
The debate over buybacks is a debate over how to create more broadly shared prosperity. Here’s why their defenders’ arguments are flat-out wrong.
How High Drug Prices Inflate C.E.O.s’ Pay
Drug company executives faced tough questions from Congress on Tuesday as they attempted to explain why, thanks to high drug prices, per capita spending on pharmaceuticals in the United States is double the average of other advanced countries. For decades, American drug makers have justified these high…
How High Drug Prices Inflate C.E.O.s’ Pay
Pharmaceutical companies say their profits fund research and innovation in new medicines, but they are spending billions to enrich shareholders and executives.
