Forty years of the mantra of shareholder value have worked to change our system to bring corporate profit to new heights. Corporations today have extraordinary pricing power, power over labor, political power, and convenient excuses for high prices.
Excellent concise overview of a complex topic. Since corporations exist (1) to maximize shareholder value - by maximizing profits on (2) delivered offerings to customers, and (3) provide jobs for employees - it seems increasingly logical to do a better job of ensuring when a customer buys the product, they also get a fractional share of stock in the company (deposited in an individual retirement account). A fractional share of an index fund might be even better, as a way to ensure the people are more equitably benefiting from the success of corporations as innovation engines that raise quality of life for citizens. Why not "buy2invest" systems change to better align incentives of corporations, people, and governments (which have a special responsibility to their elder citizens in the form of social security)?
The whole question of how various stakeholders share in the profits of corporations is interesting and important. As we lower taxes on corporations (income taxes, property taxes), they return less and less of their profits to the communities in which they operate and depend more on others to provide the infrastructure (transportation, utilities, rule of law, intellectual property protection, educated employees, etc.) that they need. Indeed as they are able to pay employees less and less, they sometimes even depend on others to feed and house their workers.
I intend to discuss some of these topics in later issues of the newsletter.
Excellent concise overview of a complex topic. Since corporations exist (1) to maximize shareholder value - by maximizing profits on (2) delivered offerings to customers, and (3) provide jobs for employees - it seems increasingly logical to do a better job of ensuring when a customer buys the product, they also get a fractional share of stock in the company (deposited in an individual retirement account). A fractional share of an index fund might be even better, as a way to ensure the people are more equitably benefiting from the success of corporations as innovation engines that raise quality of life for citizens. Why not "buy2invest" systems change to better align incentives of corporations, people, and governments (which have a special responsibility to their elder citizens in the form of social security)?
Thanks Jim.
The whole question of how various stakeholders share in the profits of corporations is interesting and important. As we lower taxes on corporations (income taxes, property taxes), they return less and less of their profits to the communities in which they operate and depend more on others to provide the infrastructure (transportation, utilities, rule of law, intellectual property protection, educated employees, etc.) that they need. Indeed as they are able to pay employees less and less, they sometimes even depend on others to feed and house their workers.
I intend to discuss some of these topics in later issues of the newsletter.