Has the Financial Sector Become a Drag on the Real Economy?
American Compass’s Oren Cass, in dialogue with Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks, discusses the negative effects of the growth of the U.S. financial sector.
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The Consultant Class Scores an Own Goal
With every step away towards a pure market logic and away from physical communities and lived-in traditions, the sporting world will find that the magic and allure of what has made them so compelling start to disappear.
How Wall Street Took Over Our Economy
Varun Hukeri features American Compass’s We’re Just Speculating Here research on financialization and falling U.S. investment.
Fulfillment: A Conversation on Amazon and Regional Inequality with Alec MacGillis
Fulfillment author Alec MacGillis joins American Compass research director Wells King for a conversation exploring what the growth of Amazon means for the future of inequality in the U.S., the pros and cons of “one-click America,” and how policymakers and consumers should respond.
Oren Cass Joins Tucker Carlson To Discuss Wall Street Investment
American Compass executive director Oren Cass joined Tucker Carlson to discuss our recent research on trends in U.S. investment and the growth of the financial sector.
Oren Cass Reveals Truth Behind Wall Street’s Claim That They Add Value To US Economy
Executive director Oren Cass joins Saagar Enjeti and Krystal Ball to discuss the declining rate of nationwide investments.
Wall Street’s Fixation on Quick Profits Wreaking Havoc in the ‘Real’ Economy, Report Says
Christopher Ingraham features We’re Just Speculating Here writing that U.S. businesses are prioritizing shareholder profits over long-term investments, and the economy’s worse off for it.
New Report: Most U.S. Companies Send Cash to Shareholders at Expense of Capital Base
PRESS RELEASE—In an economic transformation over past 50 years, “Eroders” have overtaken “Sustainers,” according to a new report by American Compass executive director Oren Cass.
The US Needs to Rediscover the Meaning of Investment
American Compass executive director Oren Cass makes the case that fortunes are made in financial markets without benefiting the real economy.
The Corporate Erosion of Capitalism
This report provides a systematic, firm-level study of declining business investment and the shift among American corporation toward disgorging cash to shareholders.
The Rise of Wall Street and the Fall of American Investment
Confusion over the nature of investment is pervasive among economic policymakers and commentators, has bled into the popular culture, and threatens the nation’s future prosperity.
New Analysis Finds Hedge Funds and Private Equity Failed to Beat the COVID Crash
PRESS RELEASE—The latest Returns Counter update highlights the failures of coin-flip capitalism during the COVID-19 market crash in the first two quarters of 2020.
Coin-Flip Capitalism: Q2 2021 Update
A review of hedge fund and private equity performance through the COVID-19 market crash.
The Returns Counter (Q1 2020)
Archive of Returns Counter data as of Q1 2021
The Returns Counter
Comprehensive benchmarking of the hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital industries against public-market indexes, updated quarterly.
L’Affaire GameStop
The stampede into GameStop and other stocks was a political event. Like antifa assaults on government building and the mob assault on the White House, the investment strategy hatched on Read more…
Trade After Trump: A Post-Mortem with Former USTR Robert Lighthizer
Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer joins American Compass executive director Oren Cass for a conversation about his work as the U.S. Trade Representative, the overhaul of America’s economic relationship with China, successes achieved and lessons learned, and key challenges facing the Biden administration.
GameStop: Intentionally Dying
Our country, we tell ourselves, is a place where anyone can make it if they study enough, and where the smartest rise to the top. Grow up in a sad town with only empty lots where factories used to be? Hit the books, spend your days in the library memorizing dates, equations, and working out that brain.
Respect the People
Like every banker, I remember my first bail-out fondly. Mine was January 1995 and I was working for Salomon Brothers bond trading business, and we, like all of Wall Street, had gotten ourselves out over our skis.
The Returns Counter (Q4 2019)
Comprehensive benchmarking of the hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital industries against public-market indexes, updated quarterly.
