Pay Lots

I didn't know much about Payless and its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy, costing 18,000 jobs. But how did I know a year ago that if I searched "Payless", "hedge fund" and "special dividend" I'd be pointed in the direction of $400M in special dividends to the hedge fund acquirers from 2012 to 2017 that may have saddled the company with just too much debt? And it's more than Payless and hedge fund behavior generally---it's this moronic default to a "socialist" label whenever one seeks to improve a bit on the the "capitalism" we have (which in its winner take all and vulture form has resulted in pretty high levels of inequality, injustice and insecurity). I applaud those socially responsible folks out there who are gamely trying to redefine corporate fiduciary duty from whatever most rewards shareholders to including labor and the planet in the discussion. We should support them in 2020 and beyond. And today the Times has a very good follow-up article on the company.