to build on this point a bit, business does not *have* to operate in the hyper-financialized short-term shareholder value mode. that model depends on a lot of policy, above all low taxation on high incomes, carried interest, capital gains, and de facto bankruptcy fraudto build on this point a bit, business does not *have* to operate in the hyper-financialized short-term shareholder value mode. that model depends on a lot of policy, above all low taxation on high incomes, carried interest, capital gains, and de facto bankruptcy fraud

It's also somewhat based on CEOs and other powerful people only being there for a relatively short time and mostly having bonuses tied to short-term goals. If you have the same person in charge for 20 years, they are probably more interested in the business doing well long-term

it should not be possible for private equity scumbags to buy a business, load it to the gills with debt, pay themselves a king's ransom, and then leave the prior corporate debt holders to get pennies on the dollar in Chapter 11. that's just a loophole in bankruptcy lawit should not be possible for private equity scumbags to buy a business, load it to the gills with debt, pay themselves a king's ransom, and then leave the prior corporate debt holders to get pennies on the dollar in Chapter 11. that's just a loophole in bankruptcy law

The biggest tax change we should make income earned from a profession have a lower tax rate than all types of income. No idea how that would work in practice, but it would change incentives quite a bit.

This is so true, and like “That’s weird”, it deserves to be stated often, in simple language.

This is a great point. The business deciders love to act like bad corporate behavior is just an immutable law of nature, a natural consequence of the simple requirements of profitability, rather than very deliberate choices

V relevant bc the adjunct model is downstream from a broadly financialized economy (lots of jobs are two-tier). The difference with other firms is that public schools can't control their revenue. Real structural change needs things (taxes, fed intervention) management can't do and often doesn't want

Also, the ability to transfer the debt you used to purchase a company to the company you purchase? That should definitely 100% not be possible, but it seems to be core to the VC model.