Work sucks, we know. How did we get to this world with layoffs, slashed employee benefits, and cutthroat methods of increasing corporate profits? Just two people are responsible for shaping more of your modern work life than you think. Sources: NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/01/1101505691/short-term-profits-and-long-term-consequences-did-jack-welch-break-capitalism Review of Int’l Political Economy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09692290.2019.1649293 Physics World: https://physicsworld.com/a/the-demise-of-an-electronics-giant-the-men-who-killed-general-electric/ Vox: https://www.vox.com/money/23691406/layoffs-history-job-insecurity-corporate-downsizing-q-a https://www.vox.com/2018/8/2/17639762/stock-buybacks-tax-cuts-trump-republicans Marketplace: https://www.marketplace.org/2016/06/13/profit-ibm/ Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/03/31/for-workers-surplused-by-ibm-lives-forever-changed/1abb382f-1438-4fde-93f1-d625d43a4b49/ Slate: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/09/why-companies-and-ceos-treat-their-workers-like-garbage.html Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-companies-still-get-wrong-about-layoffs https://hbr.org/2009/07/shareholders-first-not-so-fast Case for Stock Buybacks: https://hbr.org/2017/09/the-case-for-stock-buybacks New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/16/what-are-corporations-obligations-to-shareholders/corporations-dont-have-to-maximize-profits https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/business/biden-buffett-debate-share-buybacks.html#:~:text=Companies%20announced%20plans%20to%20buy,of%20the%20National%20Economic%20Council. The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-shareholder-revolution-devours-its-children/ The Man Who Broke Capitalism by David Gelles: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/dp/198217644X Economic Policy Institute: https://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/ https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2021/ Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2016/union-membership-in-the-united-states/home.htm Subscribe to Morning Brew Sign up for free today: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/subscribe?utm_campaign=mb_yt&utm_medium=multimedia&utm_source=youtube Follow The Brew! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MorningBrew TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew