RECOMMENDED READING
Wall Street moves around billions, if not trillions of dollars every day. But the way companies are managing their assets may only be helping shareholders and stock prices without creating much real-world value, according to a recent study by the American Compass.
American Compass executive director Oren Cass found in a firm-level analysis of business investment that money once allocated to productive assets — including capital, wages and intellectual property — is mainly being diverted to shareholders. The report concluded that prioritizing these short-term payouts to investors over long-term investment is hindering growth and worsening inequality.
Recommended Reading
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.
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.
We’re Just Speculating Here…
Most of what we call investment, by contrast, entails merely the buying and selling of assets on the secondary market—piles of cash and securities trade hands, but no one builds anything.
