Ending Shareholder Primacy in Corporate Governance
Wednesday, 13 February 2019
For nearly half of a century, America’s public corporations have been driven by a shareholder primacy approach to corporate governance, increasingly prioritizing shareholder payments over other, more productive uses of corporate resources. Over the same period, employee bargaining power has decreased and wages for nonexecutive workers have remained flat across sectors. In Ending Shareholder Primacy in Corporate Governance,
- Published in Economic Inclusion, Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications, Report, Work and Labor
A Proposal to Enhance Antitrust Protection Against Labor Market Monopsony
Thursday, 10 January 2019
The United States has a labor monopsony problem. Though legal tools are already in place to combat monopsony, they have only been used against the most obvious forms of anticompetitive conduct like no-poaching agreements. More generally, there has been virtually no enforcement against abuses of monopsony power in labor markets. In a Roosevelt Institute working
- Published in Brief, Economy & Growth, Publications
On the Economy: Could Trump Be Right about Rate Hikes?
Thursday, 03 January 2019
At its December meeting, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point. The move, while widely expected, represented a clear rebuke to President Trump, who has repeatedly urged the Fed to keep rates low. He took to Twitter after the move to attack Fed head Jerome Powell as a golfer who has
- Published in Blog, Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Work and Labor
The Labor Market Impact of the Proposed Sprint–T-Mobile Merger
Monday, 17 December 2018
In partnership with the Economic Policy Institute, Roosevelt Research Associate Adil Abdela and Research Director and Fellow Marshall Steinbaum examine the impact of the proposed Sprint/T-Mobile merger on the labor market. Cutting the number of national players in the U.S. wireless industry from four to three, this move would escalate market power in the industry
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications
We Can’t Address the Student Debt Crisis until We Understand Its Effects
Monday, 03 December 2018
To address the $1.5 trillion in outstanding student debt that is held by American borrowers today, it is vital to have a full debate about the costs and benefits of potential solutions. But this debate must be grounded in a solid understanding of the problem. David Leonhardt’s recent takedown of universal student-debt cancellation flows from
- Published in Blog, Economy & Growth, Education, homepage-slider
Corporate Stocks: Moving More Money out to Shareholders Than Back in through New Equity Issuances
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
One justification made by proponents of stock buybacks is that the practice is an effective way for funds to flow from companies that do not “need” the cash out to shareholders, who will then invest it in companies that are issuing new shares to finance firm activity. Does this explanation show up in the data?1
- Published in Blog, Economy & Growth, Finance & Wealth, homepage-slider
When an Economic Model Fails to Capture Reality
Thursday, 01 November 2018
Last week, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced a sweeping, bold economic policy idea: the LIFT the Middle Class Act. The LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families) Act would essentially be a dramatic expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), making it much larger and available to many more Americans. A few days later, the conservative
- Published in Blog, Economic Inclusion, Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Work and Labor
The Student Debt Crisis, Labor Market Credentialization, and Racial Inequality: How the Current Student Debt Debate Gets the Economics Wrong
Tuesday, 16 October 2018
As tuition has risen over the last several decades in the U.S., student loan debt has ballooned. Despite growing debt loads, federal policy encourages the use of loans for financing higher education, based on the assumption that student debt supports increased postsecondary attainment—and, in turn, improved outcomes for individuals and our economy as a whole.
- Published in Economy & Growth, Education, homepage-slider, Publications, Report
Left Behind: Snapshots from the 21st Century Labor Market
Wednesday, 03 October 2018
In Left Behind: Snapshots from the 21st Century Labor Market, Roosevelt Program Director Rakeen Mabud and Program Associate Jess Forden explore today’s changing economy and the future of work through the lens of six occupations: carework, food service, manufacturing, mining, nursing, and trucking. Despite a seemingly robust and healthy economy, as indicated by headline measures
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications, Report, Work and Labor
The Effective Competition Standard: A New Standard for Antitrust
Tuesday, 25 September 2018
America’s failing antitrust system is, in large part, to blame for today’s market power problem. Lax antitrust law and enforcement have allowed troubling trends like corporate consolidation to remain unchallenged, further embedding our skewed economy. In highly consolidated markets, consumers have limited choice and little power to pick their price, quality, or provider for the
- Published in Economy & Growth, homepage-slider, Publications, Report
