EP 627 Why Aren’t There More Employee- Owned Businesses in America?

In America we play hail to the founder and the brilliant chief executive who started a company from scratch, though we realize that whether it’s Elon Musk or Jeff Zuckerberg, they have their feet of clay.  The spoils go to them and outside shareholders who invest in the company, which has led to a yawning wealth gap in America.  Wages, less and less, can cover the bills and social trust is eroding, There are ongoing debates about what to do, but one key solution is rarely discussed.  Why not spread business ownership around and let workers benefit from the capitalist dreams they have helped to create?  In the book, “Ownership: Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What”, our guest, Corey Rosen, founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership and his co-author, John Case. explain why so many companies end up being owned by Wall Street shareholders or private equity firms–and why that kind of ownership encourages a focus on short-term profits rather than long-term sustainability.  The heart of the book takes us inside the concept of employee ownership as a concept and how to expand it in America.  Given the bipartisan support for the concept, it seems like an idea whose time has come.

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