Jason Hartman talks with Ed Conard, economist, and founding partner of Bain Capital, alongside Mitt Romney. Jason and Ed talk about his New York Times Bestselling book Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy is Wrong, along with his soon to be released book, The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class. The two discuss CEO pay, the technology sector, and why regulations tend to hurt companies trying to get started.

Key Takeaways:

[1:28] Ed discusses his time at Bain Capital with Mitt Romney, when they experienced enormous growth.

[3:30] Bain Capital gave clients the opportunity to invest in capital investment and management supervision related opportunities.

[5:07] Bain Capital also provided a higher risk strategy, so they could capitalize on investment opportunities of undervalued assets.

[7:21] The Upside of Inequality tackles the productivity of the American worker

[12:18] The US economy is picking up, and Fortune 400 companies continue to turn over, suggesting companies aren’t just negotiating for a bigger piece of the pie

[14:47] People may find it hard to believe, but CEO pay may not be as ludicrous as it appears

[19:36] Compared to other sectors of the economy, tech companies pay less taxes and have much looser regulation

[21:22] Tech sector profitability has been amazing

[22:23] The economy is squeezing the profitability out of most other sectors.

[24:45] The way to grow in today’s economic landscape is to have trained talent and the willingness to take a risk

Website:

http://www.edwardconard.com
https://twitter.com/edwardconard