Finance, Jobs & Macroeconomics

Good Company: Economic Policy after Shareholder Primacy

In Good Company, PERI researcher Lenore Palladino analyzes how, under the doctrine of “shareholder primacy,” corporations operate with short-term goals to deliver profits to shareholders. Palladino explains how corporations draw power from public charters. In return, companies are meant to innovate for the betterment of the society that supports them. In practice, that commitment to social well-being is neglected, with stock buybacks and top management bonuses prioritized instead. Palladino describes how modern corporations could play this intended role as a positive social actor, and offers tangible policy solutions that could make this alternative purpose a reality.

Busting the Bankers’ Club: Finance for the Rest of Us

PERI researcher Gerald Epstein’s book Busting the Bankers’ Club: Finance for the Rest of Us uncovers the deep roots of Wall Street’s political and economic power. The book describes how, due to the long-term erosion of regulatory policies, current U.S. financial practices promote instability and crises and produce destructive impacts on workers and communities. Epstein also examines in depth the “Club Busters.” These are the political activists, organizations, financial regulators, legal scholars, economists, and policymakers who are fighting the destructive power of finance and aiming to build a financial system that serves the rest of us.