Owen Davis “Why do companies take on debt? The conventional answer is that they need to invest: to hire more workers, upgrade facilities or invent new widgets. But fresh research shows that in the past three decades corporations increasingly borrow…
AIR IMPACT
Recognition of AIR research, opinions, and people in the media and elsewhere
An economist identified the corporate behavior that led to our staggering inequalit
By Gary Cohn “There are many gauges of the depth and breadth of economic inequality, and they often measure what middle-income working people have today against what they had prior to 1980 – that time when homes were affordable, along…
Top five California companies driving inequality
By Gary Cohn “Economist William Lazonick caused a stir last year when the Harvard Business Review printed his critique of corporate America, Profits Without Prosperity. In it, Lazonick extensively analyzed data that showed how the country’s largest companies were exacerbating…
New study says California tech giants stock buybacks are fueling our income inequalit
By Andre Bourque “A new study published in an article by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Gary Cohn, are based on the research of former Harvard economist William Lazonick. Lazonick examines how large, publicly traded companies spending a significant portion of…
The seven deadly sins of activist hedge funds
By Steve Denning “Activist hedge funds, writes The Economist in its cover story of February 7, 2015, are “a breath of fresh air” and “good for the public company.” They offer firms a “new lease on life.” They are “a…
The evil of stock buybacks: How corporations became ATMs for the superwealthy
By Jeff Spross “To appreciate the rot at the heart of corporate America, look no further than stock buybacks. Otherwise known as repurchases, they’re instances in which corporations use their profits to buy back their own stocks, resulting in a…
Entrepreneur Hanauer: Stock buybacks ‘demonstrably harmful to the economy
By Dan Well “Stock buybacks, often urged on by activist investors, are the latest rage, totaling $700 billion last year. That’s not a good thing, says entrepreneur/venture capitalist Nick Hanauer.”… [Click HERE to read the full article]
Velveeta and the one percent
By Marc Johnson “The steady demise of the middle class in America offers many story lines. Velveeta, that awesomely yellowy imitation cheese-like substance, is just one. Reuters reports that the Kraft Foods Group, maker of Velveeta, has long been experiencing a…
Misfortune 500: How one economist exposed a dirty corporate secret
By Gary Cohn “In 2009, Jared Bernstein was among a small group of top advisors to newly inaugurated President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as they took on the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. With the nation…
Want a healthy middle class? Bring back the long-term career
By Lynn Stuart Parramore “It’s time to start thinking about revitalizing the long-term career if we don’t want its partner, the middle class, to vanish into thin air. In an age of galloping inequality, it’s worth remembering that middle-class people,…
