BC Talks About the Wealth Divide, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
The Wealth Divide – Boston College Magazine
With the wealth gap in the United States wider than at any point since the Great Depression, the discussion about income inequality has been hitting closer and closer to home for many. The ever-reaching effects of inequality can start right at the beginning of someone’s life, according to research from Boston College Carroll School of Management assistant professor Sean Martin.
Martin’s 2016 research in The Academy of Management Journal explores the link between social class and leadership. Entitled “Echoes of Our Upbringing,” Martin and his coauthors, University of Toronto’s Stéphane Côté and West Point’s Todd Woodruff, uncovered “connections between how much money leaders grew up with, their narcissism, and negative reviews from their subordinates” among 299 recent West Point graduates,” according to Boston College Magazine.
“To the extent that people grow up wealthy, they’re more likely to exhibit narcissistic tendencies, and narcissistic tendencies lead people to engage in fewer leadership behaviors that we would consider prototypical and more effective. And as a result, their performance suffers.”
“My own understanding is that we’re kind of in some real trouble here.” – Carroll Assistant Professor Sean Martin on the current state of income inequality.
You can read more about the study and Martin’s experience from living in his car, to earning his Ph.D. at Cornell here.
What Opening a Nonprofit Grocery Taught the Former President of Trader Joe’s – MIT Sloan Newsroom
As part of MIT’s recent Sustainability Summit, Trader Joe’s president Doug Rauch discussed how his new venture, Daily Table, attempts to tackle “food insecurity” and still keep prices low by sourcing “its food from farmers, factories, and supermarkets, through donations of excess food, ‘imperfect’ food, and reduced purchase prices.” Rauch shared some of the lessons he gleaned after receiving community feedback on his new enterprise:
“I’m told over and over again, how good they feel: I’m providing this for my family. I can now finally come in, buy the foods I’m supposed to be eating, I feel good about what we’re feeding our families. It is so fundamental to the human need we all have, which is for respect for dignity.”
Learn more about Rauch’s plans for Daily Table here.
Those Taxing New Tax Laws – Sawyer Business School Blog
The Suffolk University Sawyer Business School recently published an interview with professor of taxation Michaele Morrow, Ph.D., CPA, who offered a nuanced analysis of the changes people can expect as a result of the recent tax reforms. She writes:
“Congress is only focused on short-term effects. In fact, the tax cuts for individuals are scheduled to expire in seven years, so this isn’t true reform. First, Congress limited the dollar amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted to $10,000. At the same time, Congress increased the standard deduction to $12,000 for a single person and $24,000 for a married couple. Essentially, this means that fewer people will have expenses that exceed those standard deduction amounts, so many more will itemize.”
You can read more about Morrow’s take on the new U.S. tax reforms here.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
