“If the COVID-19 pandemic has produced winners and losers, then young Canadian billionaire Tobias Lütke is definitely a winner. Since the start of the pandemic in March, the 40-year-old CEO of Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify Inc., has watched his personal…
AIR IMPACT
Recognition of AIR research, opinions, and people in the media and elsewhere
A Most Dangerous Intersection: Revisiting Race and Class in 2020
“In June, David Leonhardt in the New York Times noted that “the black-white wage gap is roughly as large today as it was in 1950.” One driver of this is that a huge number—a third of Black men ages 25-54—remain outside the…
Covid-19: Closing Down Was Easy; Re-Opening Will Be Hard
“Ensuring the health and safety of our people and our communities is our highest priority as the United States quickly mobilizes to slow the spread of Covid-19,” said McDonald’s. via PRovoke I by Paul Holmes I May 18, 2020 [Click HERE…
Top US companies lay off thousands of workers while rewarding shareholders amid coronavirus pandemic
“Some of the largest companies in the U.S. have rewarded their shareholders amid the coronavirus pandemic after firing thousands of employees. Companies like heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar, denim-maker Levi Strauss, toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker, furniture manufacturer Steelcase and World Wrestling Entertainment have…
Outrageous’: Major US companies hand shareholders hundreds of millions in dividends while slashing thousands of jobs
“Five major U.S. corporations that have laid off thousands of workers in recent weeks have simultaneously dished out hundreds of millions of dollars in cash dividends to wealthy shareholders, drawing outrage from Sen. Bernie Sanders and others who say the…
How to manage public stake in bailed-out companies
“The stimulus bill passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 economic crisis includes massive bailouts for airlines and other large companies deemed necessary for national security, in the aggregate around $500 billion, including $25 billion for company payrolls.”… via The American…
Stock buybacks and company executives’ profits
“A stock buyback occurs when a publicly traded firm repurchases some of its shares from investors with excess cash or borrowed funds. In recent years, the annual aggregate value of such repurchases has risen to historical highs, reaching nearly $1…
If companies aren’t buying their own stock, who is?
“Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. added $2 billion to its stock buyback program on March 3, a vote of confidence among executives as the stock market began to slide. Just over three weeks later, the hotel company would strip the business…
U.S. companies criticized for cutting jobs rather than investor payouts
“ U.S. companies laying off workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic but still paying dividends and buying back shares are drawing criticism from labor unions, pension fund advisers, lawmakers and corporate governance experts.”… via Reuters I by Alwyn Scott, Ross…
Share buybacks have been the ‘only net source of money entering the stock market’ since 2008
By Nick Beams “Like every great crisis, the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare everything rotten and degenerate in capitalist society. Nowhere is that exposure more pronounced than in the case of the stock market—that vast institutionalised mechanism through which the…