Labor in the Age of Finance Pensions, Politics, Corporations From Deindustrialization to Dodd

From award-winning economic historian Sanford M. Jacoby, a fascinating and important study of the labor movement and shareholder capitalismSince the 1970s, American unions have shrunk dramatically, as has their economic clout. Labor in the Age of Finance traces the search for new sources of power, showing how unions turned financialization to their advantage.Sanford Jacoby catalogs the array of allies and finance-based tactics labor deployed to stanch membership losses in the private sector. By leveraging pension capital, unions restructured corporate governance around issues like executive pay and accountability. In Congress, they drew on their political influence to press for corporate reforms in the wake of business scandals and the financial crisis. The effort restrained imperial CEOs but could not bridge the divide between workers and owners. Wages lagged behind investor returns, feeding the inequality identified by Occupy Wall Street. And labor's slide continued.A compelling blend of history, economics, and politics, Labor in the Age of Finance explores the paradox of capital bestowing power to labor in the tumultuous era of Enron, Lehman Brothers, and Dodd-Frank.

Product details

• Authors: Sanford M. Jacoby
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Content: Book
• Product form: Paperback / Softback
• Publication date: 27.05.2025
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Business > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous
• EAN: 9780691217628
• ISBN: 978-0-691-21762-8
• Pages: 368
• Subjects: Governance, Capitalism, Investment, Pension, Insider, Bank, investor, Finance, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Corporate Governance, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History, Corporate Governance, Shareholder, Lobbying, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Finance / General, HISTORY / Social History, unemployment, Social & cultural history, Asset Management, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / General, Private Equity, Shareholder Value, HISTORY / United States / General, hedge fund, stock market, institutional investor, Employment, Tax, Economic history, Labour / income economics, Political science & theory, Financial Services, Customer, Activism, J. P. Morgan, Financial Crisis, Asset, Labour Economics, Citigroup, Private Sector, Wealth, Retail, Bankruptcy, Takeover, Legislation, Social and cultural history, Enron, United States of America, USA, Executive compensation, Board of directors, Trade union, History of the Americas, Political science and theory, Wage, Retirement, Constitution: government & the state, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Labor / General, Pension Fund, Economist, Finance and the finance industry, Voting, financialization, share price, Collective bargaining, labour movement, creditor, independent director, Chairman, Layoff, Princeton University Press, Expense, Provision (accounting), Dividend, The Wall Street Journal, Public company, Shareholder resolution, Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Option (finance), shareholder primacy, Sarbanes–Oxley Act, Activist shareholder, TIAA-CREF, Buyback, CalSTRS, S&P 500 Index, CalPERS, Amalgamated Bank, Ralph Nader, Damon Silvers