About this episode
This episode was originally published on August 28th, 2023.
Listen to Monopoly 1 - Lost in the Supermarket and Monopoly 17 - Food Fight
In the past several years, Loblaws, Metro and Empire have spent billions on their own stock – And at a time of food price inflation and grocery workers on strike.
Why are they doing it? And why do some economists say stock buybacks should be abolished?
Featured in this episode:
William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts
Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work
Further reading:
- Profits Without Prosperity, William Lazonick, Harvard Business Review
- “The American disease’: Canadian companies pouring cash into stock buybacks as backlash grows abroad, Geoff Zochodne, Financial Post
- Striking Metro workers say they face challenges affording the very food they sell, Canadian Press
Host: Jesse Brown
Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Jonathan Goldsbie (News Editor), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
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