American CEO pay inflation is down but not yet out 16 Aug 2019 A new study shows top company bosses made 278 times an average employee’s pay in 2018 – a quarter less than the 2000 peak. At this rate, it will only take another 50 or so years to get back to the 30 times ratio of 1978. There might be an anti-elite revolution before then.
Epstein case shows lingerie giant’s fraying seams 8 Aug 2019 Leslie Wexner, CEO of Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands, is in the spotlight for letting the financier charged with sex trafficking manage his money. His firm needs scrutiny, too. For investors, Wexner’s slow response to online threats and falling margins are another worry.
Top Trump beneficiary gets it from the other end 7 Aug 2019 Few stocks have surfed the president’s term like the New York Times. Far from “failing,” the publisher tripled in value and is nearly halfway towards its 2025 goal of 10 mln total subscribers. But as Q2 results show, dopey headlines are less of a threat than Trump’s exit.
Breakdown: Silicon Valley privacy caught in a jam 29 Jul 2019 IBM is the latest to call for changes to a 23-year-old law that exempts the likes of YouTube and Facebook from lawsuits over content on their sites. The provision no longer encourages the kind of policing their platforms need. Yet scrapping it wouldn’t solve that, either.
Viewsroom: UK’s new PM looks for the exit 25 Jul 2019 Boris Johnson helped persuade Britons to vote to leave the EU. London’s former mayor now leads the country – and may find his pledge to quit the European bloc hard to keep. Meanwhile, U.S. watchdogs are circling Amazon, Alphabet, Apple and Facebook. Plus: Protests rock Hong Kong.
Puerto Rico leadership change offers second chance 25 Jul 2019 Governor Ricardo Rossello is resigning after mass protests over crude chat messages and a corruption probe. Political turmoil has stymied efforts to restructure the U.S. territory’s debt and strengthen fiscal oversight. The next leader can’t afford to waste Puerto Rico’s crisis.
Hadas: U.S. slavery reparations might just work 24 Jul 2019 In terms of race, American society remains stubbornly separate and unequal 155 years after abolition. Much of the economy still works as if racial attitudes had not changed. One way to reduce the black-white social gap is a womb-to-tomb campaign of well-targeted incentives.
Weak Facebook penalty mirrors weak U.S. watchdog 23 Jul 2019 The social network will pay a $5 bln fine and must form a privacy oversight panel after accusations it mishandled user data. The Federal Trade Commission doesn’t have enough powers or staff to punch harder. Unless Congress acts, Big Tech can expect more slaps on the wrist.
Amazon’s data deal invites D.C. scrutiny 16 Jul 2019 As its executives appeared at an antitrust hearing in Congress, the e-commerce giant offered customers $10 to track their web browsing. It’s a smart way to grab business from rivals, and the price low-balls the value of user data. It’s also a demonstration of how dominance works.
Uber adds useful numbers to solve gender equation 15 Jul 2019 The ride-hailing app is tying executive compensation to targets for increasing the share of women and minorities in its ranks. Linking pay to worthy diversity goals is one concrete way for Uber to rehabilitate its toxic image. It also paves the road for others to follow.
Facebook sets diversity goals for others to follow 10 Jul 2019 The $570 bln social network wants at least half its staff to be women or from minorities in the next five years. Aside from being more representative, a more inclusive staff can help the bottom line. Facebook is not aiming for the stars, but it’s doing more than many companies.
U.S. soccer’s unsporting pay is an own goal 8 Jul 2019 The American women’s team that clinched the World Cup title on Sunday is fighting for equal wages. As with similar battles playing out in the corporate world, arguments about metrics and comparability cloud a simple point: closing the pay gap is good for long-term profit.
San Francisco vaping ban shows warped agenda 28 Jun 2019 Juul Labs’ home is the first U.S. city to block its sales. Local agencies can’t use facial-recognition software. Meanwhile the area has a property-crime problem and human feces on its streets. The place boasting the highest density of billionaires is neglecting basic services.
Viewsroom: What makes companies proud of Pride? 27 Jun 2019 Neither profit nor investor pressure explain U.S. firms lining up to mark 50 years of the LGBT-rights movement. They may simply be doing the right thing. But the nation still has a long way to go. Plus: how the UK prime minister race affects the Bank of England’s next boss.
Pride brings out best in self-serving companies 25 Jun 2019 Big brands are flaunting their support for the LGBT community, including some who once did the opposite. It’s easy to be cynical, but if only short-term profit mattered, such gestures wouldn’t happen. With so much still to do, the support matters more than the motivation.
Review: Counting the poor can miss the point 21 Jun 2019 A posthumous book by poverty expert Anthony Atkinson recounts the many complications of measuring deprivation. The efforts have been valiant and valuable. Still, numerous assumptions and estimates often hide the scandal of hardship, and the gains in the fight for human dignity.
Schwarzman’s Oxford gift widens UK university gulf 19 Jun 2019 The Blackstone founder is giving 150 mln pounds to the 900-year-old institution for a humanities centre bearing his name. Oxford and other top universities already outspend less prestigious peers. Weaker players will have to borrow more to keep up, increasing their vulnerability.
Tech can help uncover the basics of basic income 10 Jun 2019 Seed-capital guru Y Combinator is the latest to study the pros and cons of giving people a guaranteed monthly stipend. Its project is bigger, longer and less restrictive than the Finnish state’s or the U.S. city of Stockton’s. The higher standard should yield more useful results.
The Exchange: Dick’s sticks to its guns 10 Jun 2019 Dick’s Sporting Goods lost sales, customers and suppliers when it banned assault-style weapons from its stores last year. Over a year later, boss Ed Stack tells Breakingviews what he learned from taking a stand on gun violence, and addresses his newer challenge of China tariffs.
Review: Rockonomics nicely reflects the real world 7 Jun 2019 Alan Krueger’s posthumous work on the finances of rock and roll functions in equal parts as a basic industry primer, a textbook on broader economic concepts and a guidebook for musicians wanting to start a band. It’s also a window, if an imperfect one, into the author’s soul.