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Asked to contem-

is almost nothing." Added Frank Gannett

class is also evident from their reading habits.

of Gannett Newspapers: "If most of our

In 1997, the Wall Street Journal had the highest

plate a situation

corporations would work out such a policy,

circulation of any daily newspaper in the

in which stock

we would have few strikes, for the worker

nation (1.8 million); a second national finan-

prices "were gen-

would understand that to tie up the pro-

cial newspaper, Investor's Business Daily,

duction of a factory would be to lessen his

claimed a readership of 235,000. Business

erally to go down

own reward."6 3

Week, Forbes, and Fortune ranked 8th, 9th, and

significantly in

M. L. Joslyn, President of Joslyn Manufac-

12th respectively in magazine ad revenues,

turing & Supply Company, extolled the role

and Money reached a circulation of 1,935,402.

the next year," 8

of profit sharing in uniting divergent inter-

There has also been a proliferation of

percent said they

ests within an organization: "A corporation

finance-oriented television programming,

would sell to

has three distinct interests--ownership, man-

including CNN-FN, CNBC, and Bloomberg.

agement, and labor--and each of those inter-

More to the point, the pool of investors

avoid further

ests is essentially selfish. There is just one way

in 1997 was better read than the more eco-

losses, 31 percent

to weld them together in a common cause, by

nomically elite pool of 1985. In 1997, 2 per-

devising a plan which secures better results to

cent more investors read the Wall Street

said they would

all those interests at the same time. . . . Taking

Journal, 6 percent more read Forbes, 14 per-

increase their

away from one interest and giving to another

cent more read Money, and 2 percent more

equity holdings to

is never going to bring that about. We believe

read Business Week. Other popular financial

our plan recognizes all those truths. . . . That

publications, such as Kiplinger's Report (read

take advantage of

is why it works and pays."64

by 10 percent of shareholders) and Investor's

lower prices, and

Apparently it still does. In 1989, James

Business Daily (consulted by 6 percent), were

not around in 1985.6 7

54 percent said

Chelius of Rutgers University and Robert S.

Smith of Cornell reported on labor condi-

The big losers in readership were daily

they would make

tions in 3,000 small businesses with

newspapers, whose share as primary sources

no major changes

defined contribution plans. They found

of business advice declined from 58 percent

that profit sharing increased labor stability,

in 1985 to 20 percent in 1997. The print gen-

at all.

particularly during downturns in sales.6 5

eralists lost market share to the financial spe-

cialists. And although the impact on workers'

Annual surveys conducted jointly by PSCA

attitudes is impossible to quantify, the edito-

and Hewitt Associates between 1973 and

rial content of Forbes, the Wall Street Journal,

1988 found that profit sharing companies

and Investor's Business Daily certainly varies

had a 13 percent turnover rate among par-

from the fare in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the

ticipants compared with a 21.6 percent

Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

national turnover rate reported at the

Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1987.6 6

It is impossible to isolate how the growth

Worker-Capitalist Politics

of worker-owned retirement accounts affect-

ed labor relations. But the correlation is

remarkable. In 1977, the year before the

This section addresses the issue of

Revenue Act added section 401(k) to the

whether stock ownership has an impact on

Internal Revenue Code, there were 298 work

attitudes about public policy issues.

stoppages that idled 1.2 million workers for

Hypothetically, as workers accumulate capi-

21.2 million working days--0.10 percent of

tal, their support for free-market and

the nation's work time that year. By 1997,

progrowth policy reforms will increase. The

there were only 29 strikes that idled 339,000

available evidence suggests that this is pre-

workers for 4.5 million working days--0.01

cisely the case.

percent of the nation's work time.

Privatization of Social Security is one such

That working investors are internalizing

example. In the population as a whole, 30

attitudes long associated with the capitalist

percent of men and 40 percent of women

22