Les Leopold, a labor educator and author, reveals the harsh realities of corporate layoffs driven by Wall Street in a quest for profits. He discusses how stock buybacks and deregulation have shifted layoffs from signs of failure to strategic tools, alienating workers and exacerbating inequality. Leopold highlights the economic and social crises in areas like Mingo County, advocating for grassroots movements and innovative policies to restore worker rights. The conversation aims to empower the working class against corporate greed and inspire systemic change.
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insights INSIGHT
The Shift in Layoff Perception
Mass layoffs, once a sign of corporate failure, are now considered smart management due to Wall Street's influence.
This shift happened due to deregulation, stock buybacks, and a focus on shareholder value.
insights INSIGHT
Power in Economics
Traditional economic theory often overlooks the role of power dynamics.
Power imbalances, like wealth disparity, create an uneven playing field in the economy.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Building Political Power
Create a strong, populist, anti-Wall Street platform outside the Democratic Party to gain leverage.
Gather a million signatures to demonstrate real political power and force negotiations.
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Les Leopold's "Wall Street's War on Workers" examines the detrimental effects of stock buybacks, deregulation, and financialized capitalism on the working class. The book details how these factors have normalized mass layoffs, shifting the balance of power towards corporations and away from workers. Leopold argues that this system enriches CEOs and hedge funds while harming communities and creating widespread job insecurity. He proposes policy solutions to address these issues and restore economic balance. The book provides a critical analysis of economic policies and their impact on society, advocating for worker rights and economic justice. It serves as a call to action for readers to engage in the fight for fairer economic practices.
Corporate Bullshit
Corporate Bullshit
Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power, and Wealth in America
Joan Walsh
Donald Cohen
In "Corporate Bullshit: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power, and Wealth in America," authors Donald Cohen and Joan Walsh dissect the deceptive language and practices used by corporations to maintain their power and wealth. The book reveals how corporate narratives often obscure the true costs of their actions, including job losses, environmental damage, and social inequality. It examines the ways in which corporations manipulate public opinion and influence policy to serve their interests. The authors provide a critical analysis of corporate power and its impact on society, offering insights into how to challenge corporate narratives and advocate for greater accountability. The book is a call to action for readers to become more aware of corporate tactics and to demand greater transparency and responsibility from businesses.
Mass layoffs have become a routine corporate strategy—not because companies are struggling, but because Wall Street demands it. In Wall Street’s War on Workers, labor educator and author Les Leopold exposes how stock buybacks, deregulation, and financialized capitalism have made job cuts a tool for enriching CEOs and hedge funds at the expense of workers and communities. He joins Nick and Goldy this week to explain how this happened, why both political parties have failed to stop it, and what we can do to fight back.
Les Leopold is a labor educator, author, and co-founder of the Labor Institute, where he has spent decades advocating for economic justice and worker rights. He is the author of several books, including Runaway Inequality and Wall Street’s War on Workers, which exposes how financial elites have rigged the economy in their favor.
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