mgmt 320 student expert presentations (pre-midterm)

the google antitrust case

Google partnered with Apple to have Safari (the browser app) have their search engine be Google, so Google could get massive amounts of user data. The US found Google to be a monopoly and punished them to share the data they collect with their competitors (NOT the government)

social mobility

Harvard studies how interactions between economic classes impacted each other - the more lower income folks interacted with the higher income bracket, the more those lower income folks succeeded. Initially, people thought race was the biggest factor in income mobility, but it’s now believed to be education. It’s also declared that familial income is a greater predictor whether someone will make it to the 99%.

UBS (Swiss banking giant)

UBS did tax evasion by doing wealthy americans’ tax returns offshore to avoid taxes and was caught. they were caught multiple times doing tax evasion!

after WWII, jewish families deposited money into swiss banks for neutrality but then UBS acquired those companies and denied holocaust survivors’ rights to their deceased loved ones’ money because they couldn’t provide death certificates. news flash, the nazis didn’t provide death certificates!

UBS melted the gold bars these families deposited and burned the documents relating to those owners. USB never admitted to their crimes, and instead settled out of court to hush survivors. a whistleblower reported them

payday loans

payday loans are short-term small loans that don’t require a credit check, and are aimed at people who need emergency money before next payday. in washington, if you are over 18 you can get a payday loan. if you are military, you can get a loan with up to 36% APR. some states outright ban payday loans

kanye and adidas

kanye created a clothing line then partnered with adidas for them to sell it. they sold a TON of yeezys, the shoe. kanye and adidas were having creative differences, but didn’t immediately break off from kanye because yeezys was making so much profit. eventually, kanye started spewing antisemetic views and because adidas is based out of germany, they immediatly cut contact. they still had a billion dollars of yeezy inventory, so they sold it off and then donated to antisemetic help groups

the SEC and C suite stock sales

before 10b-5, CEOs had to have a preset plan with their intention with their shares. CEOs abused this policy by having multiple plans and creating plans with 1 day notice. Gary Gensler, the SEC chairman recognized this loophole. He then no longer allowed multiple plans and enacted a cooling off period - 90 days to make or change plans. The rules worked previously but because in advancements in technology, the rules were outdated.

employment licensing

it’s much harder to get a barber license than it is an EMT license in America. states require more training and schooling, creating higher barriers to entry. these barriers protect existing barbers, ensuring the market doesn’t become too oversaturated. we also want to protect consumers because bad barbers can harm people.

cadillac effect - regulations have forced out low-cost and lower quality options and only allowed high-quality, “luxury” services to people

upton sinclair

sinclair was a journalist known for exposing people, most notably for his book “the jungle” about the chicago meat packing industry. his goal was to enrage people about the working conditions factory workers endured, but people were more horrified about what food they may be eating. people began sending letters to the white house, demanding for reform.

result: FDR created the pure food and drug act and the food and drug administration (FDA) after he sent out inspectors to meat factories

airline and trucking deregulation

airlines and trucking companies used to not be allowed to set their rates and their routes, they were reguated by the government. this was so that there’d be no competition amongst companies and so they could focus on the safety of their service (airlines: consumers. trucking: it’s products and drivers).

when the government no longer regulated routes and rates, consumers won by being able to pick and choose airlines. wholesalers (like costco) won because trucking became much cheaper

fake science

companies that market their products with fake promises, such as using phrases like “boosting metabolism.” the FDA and FTC are in charge of regulating things like this, but the FDA only regulates food and drugs, not supplements. only drugs have to be approved, supplements could be anything. the FTC makes sure products are marketed without using “fake” words. these supplements gain attention by the FDA for harming enough people, but there could be warning labels underneath these “fake” claims that could protect the company.

trump and withholding funding to government departments

trump has been trying to downsize the government and its power by withholding funding.

impoundment - when the president is witholding money from government agencies

deferral - to delay the funding

recission - to cancel the funding (by going to Congress and explaining why)

trump is not doing this! he doesn’t really care so he’s bypassing the laws to withhold funding from the EPA. in the past, president nixon attempted this but the supreme court ordered the funding to be released

trump is firing regulators of independent commissions

trump has been firing regulators of “independent” commissions (departments with workers voted in from both political parties. trump can’t do this! these regulators must be fired with just cause/a good reason, but trump has fired these folks because they’re democrats.

a previous case, humphrey’s executor vs. united states explicitly bans this. people think the US will overturn this decision so trump can fire anyone he wants.

the triangle fire

in manhattan, NY, many women and children were trapped inside a burning building at a clothing factory. managers locked the fire escape doors because they didn’t want these women taking breaks. the hallways and doorways that were open were too narrow. firetrucks didn’t have high enough ladders to reach the top floors. 143 people/500 trapped died. people were outraged because this happened in a very public setting, where bystanders were watching people from the 8th, 9th, and 10th floor jump to their deaths. this created OSHA (occupational safety and health administration)

binding arbitration

binding arbitration clause in contracts forbid employees to sue the employer with a jury and actual judge, and from participating in class action lawsuits. the me too movement changed this after newscaster Gretch Carlson came out about how her higer ups sexually harassed her, but couldn’t sue them in court due to her contract requiring binding arbitration. it was unfair the perpetrator was shielded from the public eye about sexual harassment, making it harder for any other victims to come forward about being harassed. binding arbitration clause now does not apply to sexual harassment cases.

job interviews

the question “how much do you make are your current job?” was unintentionally helping maintain the gender wage gap. if women had already had their wage set lower from a previous job, then them reporting their wage to an interview would only keep setting the bar for a minimum salary lower in comparison to their male counterparts. this question is now illegal to ask in washington state. employers now must include salary range