Allies (Fall 2019) | Boston Review

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The American Corporation is in Crisis—Let's Rethink It

For decades, shareholder primacy has obscured the fact that employees should do well when businesses do well. Now, as that foundation crumbles, thirteen thinkers debate new reforms that could transform the inequalities at the heart of our economy.

Lenore Palladino

With Responses From

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Modern corporations should serve communities too.

William Lazonick

Shareholder primacy will be the default unless serious policy action is taken.

Julius Krein

This is an important opportunity for people of color.

Lauren Jacobs

Is inequality in share ownership a problem that needs to be solved?

Michael Lind

Lumping workers in with other stakeholders obscures reality.

Isabelle Ferreras

The view that ownership conveys exclusive rights is absurd.

James K. Galbraith

Corporate governance is multifaceted and can’t be changed with a silver-bullet.

Katharina Pistor

Expanding employee-ownership is not enough.

Rodney Foxworth 

Legislation and regulation is not the solution.

Martin Lipton

Give employees positions on corporate boards? Too timid by half.

Paul S. Adler

Employee shareholding remains a problematic solution.

Roni Hirsch

Individuals can’t engage in democracy if they are struggling to survive.

Brishen Rogers

Final Response: Shareholder primacy’s days are numbered.

Lenore Palladino

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Anxieties of Democracy

Democracy no longer has rivals, but its fairness and effectiveness face skepticism.

Ira Katznelson

Forum

The Logic of Effective Altruism

A minimally acceptable ethical life involves using a substantial part of one’s spare resources to make the world a better place.

Peter Singer

Forum

Curbing the New Corporate Power

Consumer prices are not the only concern raised by dominant companies.

K. Sabeel Rahman

Forum

France After Charlie Hebdo

France's own political traditions can accommodate visible Islam and heal social divisions.

John Bowen

Forum

Ferguson Won't Change Anything. What Will?

Michael Brown shouldn't be a poster child for social justice movements.

Glenn C. Loury

Forum

Against Empathy

Most people see the benefits of empathy as too obvious to require justification.

Paul Bloom

Forum

Build the Green Economy

1.2% of the GDP. That's all it would take to green the economy.

Robert Pollin

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Saving Privacy

Framing surveillance as a tradeoff between privacy and security is a dead end for democracy.

Reed Hundt

Forum

How Finance Gutted Manufacturing

Since the 1980s, financial market pressures have driven companies to hive off activities that sustained manufacturing.

Suzanne Berger

Forum

What Killed Egyptian Democracy?

The promise of democracy lies in its potential to cultivate political virtue over time. But Egypt's liberals, unnerved by the policies of the legitimate Muslim Brotherhood government, refused to wait.

Mohammad Fadel

Forum

The Moral Responsibility of Volunteer Soldiers

Traditional just war theory has it wrong. Soldiers are morally culpable for fighting in unjust wars, and thus deserve the option of selective conscientious objection.

Jeff McMahan

Forum

The Truth About GMOs

Genetically modified foods are safe for humans and pose no special environmental risk. Yet there are serious policy questions to consider.

Pamela Ronald

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