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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.

The Returns Counter (Q3 2019)

Archive of Returns Counter data as of Q3 2020

Coin-Flip Capitalism: Q4 2020 Update

A review of the latest developments in private finance and the latest update to the Returns Counter.

A Free Market Manifesto That Changed the World, Reconsidered

American Compass’s Oren Cass joins a wide range of economists and business leaders to discuss Milton Friedman’s essay, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” on its 50th anniversary.

Financialization in America

In this episode, Washington Free Beacon editor Aaron Sibarium and small business investor Sam Long discuss the financialization of American business culture and its impacts on our economy and society.

Monopolization as a Challenge for Both Parties

Two Federal Reserve economists have just come out with a paper on the social consequences of widespread monopolization of markets by large corporations.

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