Category: Economy
In response to “Newt Gingrich and Our Dysfunctional Congress” (December 15, 2011 issue)
by WS Editors | Sep 18, 2012 | Economy, PoliticsDear Editor, Newt Gingrich’s explanation of his role as “historian” for Freddie Mac and not a lobbyist reminds me of a legendary story from Olde Chicago. The city’s half-hearted crackdown on prostitution became such a threadbare charade that the streetwalkers would send their maids to make bench appearances for them and pay their fines. One […]
Who Built It?
by Lou Dubose | Sep 15, 2012 | Economy, PoliticsIn our September 15 issue, Lou Dubose reports on Mitt Romney’s vulture capitalism at Bain Capital. The company, where Romney spent much of his business career, made its own way—with the help of some crucial federal funding. GS Industries operated a steel mill in Kansas City, Missouri. Bain Capital acquired the company in 1993 with an […]
Where Money Is Concerned, Romney Is Dangerously Agnostic
by WS Editors | Sep 15, 2012 | Economy, PoliticsIt was politics as practiced by Karl Rove: (1) Define your opponent before he defines himself and (2) Turn his greatest asset into a liability. Framing Mitt Romney as a vulture capitalist engaged in creative destruction of American jobs began early—in May, while Romney was shifting from the primary to the general election. The Obama […]
Mitt Courts the Junk-Bond King
by WS Editors | Sep 15, 2012 | Economy, PoliticsThe last time Mitt Romney ran for president, MIT business school professor Howard Anderson described Bain Capital—the firm Romney founded—as “the model of how to leverage brain power to make money.” “They are real first-rate engineers,” Anderson told The Boston Globe. “They will do anything they can to increase the value. The promise [to investors] […]
Working on Romney’s Farm
by WS Editors | Sep 1, 2012 | Economy, PoliticsIn our September 1 issue, John Stoehr reports on working-class perceptions of Mitt Romney. But what do Romney and his cohorts think of the people who work for them? Financial writer Josh Kosman devotes a chapter of The Buyout of America to Bain Capital, the company that Mitt Romney founded. The passages below are a snapshot […]