Working Capital

by Fung, Archon; Hebb, Tessa; Rogers, Joel; Gerard, Leo W.

• ISBN13: 9780801439018
• ISBN10: 0801439019
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-04-01
• Publisher: Ilr Pr

Summary

U.S. pension funds are now worth more than $7 trillion, and many people believe that the most important task for the labor movement is to harness their share of this capital and develop strategies that will help, rather than hurt, workers and unions. Working Capital challenges money managers and today's labor movement by asking how workers' hard-earned savings can be put to use in socially and economically progressive ways. Responsible management of pensions will create greater growth and prosperity in America, and the authors of Working Capital show that the long-term interests of pension plan beneficiaries are well served through a "worker-owners" view of the economy. This book builds on the work of the Heartland Forum supported by the United Steelworkers of America, the AFL-CIO's Center for Working Capital, and several foundations, including the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, to draw together the wisdom of a number of experts on labor's next best moves in the pension market.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Leo W. Gerard
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: The Challenge of Labor's Capital Strategy	1	(12)
Tessa Hebb
Collateral Damage: Do Pension Fund Investments Hurt Workers?	13	(31)
Dean Baker
Archon Fung
Social Funds in the United States: Their History, Financial Performance, and Social Impacts	44	(23)
Eric Becker
Patrick McVeigh
Labor's Role in the Shareholder Revolution	67	(26)
Marleen O'Connor
Building on Success: Labor-Friendly Investment Vehicles and the Power of Private Equity	93	(35)
Michael Calabrese
Canadian Labour-Sponsored Investment Funds: A Model for U.S. Economically Targeted Investments	128	(30)
Tessa Hebb
David Mackenzie
Small Benefits, Big Pension Funds, and How Governance Reforms Can Close the Gap	158	(23)
Teresa Ghilarducci
Overcoming Institutional Barriers on the Economically Targeted Investment Superhighway	181	(22)
Jayne Elizabeth Zanglein
Challenging Wall Street's Conventional Wisdom: Defining a Worker-Owner View of Value	203	(20)
Damon Silvers
William Patterson
J. W. Mason
Notes	223	(16)
Bibliography	239	(18)
Contributing Authors	257	(6)
Index	263