Comment by JumpCrisscross

15 hours ago

I’ve never seen that work. There is a fundamental tension between those groups. Hence, member-owned co-ops and employee-owned co-ops.

> I’ve never seen that work. There is a fundamental tension between those groups. Hence, member-owned co-ops and employee-owned co-ops.

Focusing strictly on shareholders (value) has been en vogue since the 1970s:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine

Before that the general thinking was along the lines of:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_theory

Somehow companies managed to survive and grow before the 1970s.

  • > Focusing strictly on shareholders (value) has been en vogue since the 1970s

    It's been in vogue, in circles, since the 17th century. We're not talking about for-profit structures here.

    • One needs to ask which "shareholder" are we talking about? The pension fund that wants steady cash flow for decades? The retirement-saver, who wants to grow a big bucket for retirement? The already-retired, who wants less growth and more wealth preservation? The hedge fund who wants a couple of quarters good numbers to raise their take of the 2-and-20? The options or day trader?

      "Investor heterogeneity" is a thing.

      There is no Platonic "shareholder" with one set of needs.