Upendra J. Chivukula, New Jersey’s BPU Commissioner and former Democrat Deputy Speaker, and Veny W. Musum, former Senior Vice President, John Paul Mitchell Systems, President, Musum Real Estate/Equity Strategies and Republican Committeeman, have co-authored a book that goes by the title of: “THE 3rd Way :: Economic Reform Or Social Revolution – The Solution To Income Inequality … And Building Inclusive Capitalism Through Employee Ownership.” We bring you a brief overview of this book under this new section.
THE 3rd WAY explains a set of common-sense policies that can expand wealth created by capitalism to all working Americans. It makes the case for action to spread wealth and ownership in a style we can all grasp. It calls for mobilization of people across the political spectrum to rebuild middle-class America through greater capital ownership by regular citizens. The bipartisan co-authors – Democrat Upendra Chivukula and Republican Veny Musum – explore both Democratic and Republican thoughts on economic democracy, breaking down complex economic arguments into understandable language.
The United State has a two-factor economy. That is, you can earn income by working or owning assets (capital) that earn income. Louis Kelso, father of employee ownership plans says, “Remember, capital isn’t money; it’s measured in money, but it’s really producing … or earning power. Capital is as vital as labour itself. And capital is coming in style, which labour is not.” He further says, “The labour union movement at the present time is built on one-factor economics. Yet it is the only group of people in the whole world who can demand an ESOP, who can demand to participate in the expansion of their employer, and get away with it.”
THE 3rd WAY describes the employee ownership plan and its many proven, powerful advantages backed by over 100 year’s data. In the book, one can see how the desperately needed, simple changes to corporate tax structure would encourage virtually all businesses to embrace employee shared equity resulting in greatly accelerated massive positive change for everyone – individuals, corporations and the entire society.
Dr. Joseph Blasi, Rutgers University School of Management and Labour Relations said, “America is a capitalist dream machine without enough capitalists. With this simple yet profound observation, sum up a fundamental problem with the U.S. economy. Their solution to this flaw is revolutionary.”
THE 3rd WAY explains “inclusive capitalism” leading to economic democracy – the most fundamental thing individuals and governments must do to shrink income inequality and grow both personal wealth and national prosperity. The authors argue Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) should be the rule rather than the exception, allowing Americans and indeed those worldwide to build meaningful secondary sources of income and revitalize the middle and even lower classes.
Thousands of US and foreign companies already address this problem by empowering nearly 15 million employees to acquire substantial capital without touching any of their savings. The book makes the case for expanding the plan to greater number of companies so that more Americans benefit.
North America Bureau