Business - Page 34

Closing Racial Gaps Could Unlock $700B in U.S. Economy

Opinion by Shelley Stewart and Michael Chui If Juneteenth doesn’t make you think about the economy, maybe it should. Racial discrimination has an obvious human cost, but there’s an economic cost, too. In new research, we examined the disparities Black Americans face in various economic roles — as workers, business owners, savers, investors, consumers and residents. We found critical gaps that prevent Black Americans from full participation in the US economy, significantly limiting Black economic mobility, and holding back the nation’s economic recovery and potential in the process. Eliminating racial barriers for Black Americans could initiate a wave of growth, dynamism

How Major Companies Honor and Celebrate Juneteenth

By Chauncey Alcorn Major corporations are celebrating Juneteenth in unique ways this week. The annual June 19 tradition, which falls on Saturday this year, commemorates the day in 1865 when former American slaves in Galveston, Texas, were finally informed of President Abraham Lincoln’s January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War. It took Union troops more than two years to finish travel throughout the southern United States to inform all the former slaves of Lincoln’s executive order. The December 6, 1865, ratification of the 13th Amendment made slavery illegal throughout the US “except as a punishment for crime.” African Americans have been celebrating

US retail sales dip 1.3% in May, strong growth outlook ahead

By Anneken Tappe and Nathaniel Meyersohn US retail sales fell 1.3% in May as the sector continues to come down from the stimulus-fueled high of recent months. The last round of stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan approved by Congress in March boosted consumer spending in the early spring months. But the sugar rush has worn off. Sales numbers for April, which were initially reported as flat, were revised up to 0.9% growth. The culprit dragging the May sales down was autos, with car sales declining 3.7%, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Stripping them out entirely, retail sales fell by 0.7% last month. The data are

JPMorgan pledges $400M to fight home appraisal bias, inequality

By Matt Egan JPMorgan Chase is throwing its considerable weight behind efforts to root out racial bias in the appraisal of homes in America. As part of a new bank-wide commitment to fight housing inequality, JPMorgan is for the first time outlining specific legislation that can fight appraisal bias, backing the study of innovative ways to value homes and promoting efforts to boost sorely needed diversity in the appraisal industry. Beyond appraisals, America’s biggest bank is promising to ease obstacles that make it harder for Black and Latinx households to buy homes, build wealth and access affordable housing. “There are systematic barriers in

Supporting Black Entrepreneurs: Building Wealth and Equity

Opinion by Morgan DeBaun Innovators and entrepreneurs in the Black community have long sought opportunities to create businesses that would lead to their own financial stability and wealth creation for generations to come, but they have historically encountered one hurdle after another. During the first quarter of the 20th century, an entire Black community thrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known as Black Wall Street, the community was home to dozens of Black entrepreneurs and professionals. But 100 years ago, that thriving community was burned and destroyed by an angry mob of White people during the Tulsa race massacre. The impact of

$150M Invested in Black-Owned Banks Since George Floyd

By Chauncey Alcorn An estimated $150 million in equity capital has been invested in Black-owned banks since George Floyd was murdered last year, according to the National Bankers Association, a trade group that represents 24 of the country’s minority-owned financial institutions. Those funds have put the nation’s Black banking community in a stronger position today than it was a year ago, according to the group’s board Chairman Robert E. James II. “Our banks can now leverage that into $1.5 billion to serve minority communities,” James told CNN Business. The cultural movement to support Black-owned banks along with other African American

Fortune 500 Board Diversity Hits Record, Still Lags US

By Jeanne Sahadi The level of diversity on America’s biggest corporate boards has never been higher. But it’s still far from on par with what US society looks like. White women and minorities made up 38.3% of Fortune 500 board seats in 2020, up from 34% in 2018, according to a new study released Tuesday by the Alliance for Board Diversity in collaboration with Deloitte. And since 2010, the number of companies with greater than 40% diversity (including women) has almost quadrupled. Yet the average growth rate in minority representation on Fortune 500 boards has remained unchanged — at less

Black Boardroom Initiative Targets S&P 500 Diversity Gap

By Chauncey Alcorn The number of African Americans serving on boards of directors for the nation’s largest corporations has remained dismally low this year despite the ongoing movement to increase C-suite diversity throughout the business world. Some of America’s most prominent companies are addressing the problem by backing the Black Boardroom Initiative, a new program unveiled Wednesday with a goal of increasing the ratio of Black executives sitting on S&P 500 corporate boards to one in eight by 2028. Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and Zillow are among the major brands sponsoring the initiative, which has been spearheaded by the law firm

Amazon Buys MGM for $8.45B, Adds James Bond to Prime Video

By Frank Pallotta James Bond, meet Jeff Bezos. Amazon is investing even more heavily in growing its position in the entertainment world. The company announced Wednesday that it made a deal to acquire MGM, the home of James Bond and one of the most iconic movie studios in Hollywood. The deal, which is valued at $8.45 billion, gives Amazon an extensive library of film and TV shows that it can use to fill out its Prime Video content coffers. MGM has a catalog with more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows, according to Mike Hopkins, who heads Prime Video

Banks Push Back on USDA Debt Relief for Black Farmers

By Vanessa Yurkevich and Kate Trafecante Three of the biggest US banking groups want the US Department of Agriculture to reconsider the terms of billions of dollars in planned debt relief for minority farmers, claiming it will cut into banks’ profits — and warn they may have to cut those same farmers off from future loans. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief package passed in March includes $4 billion to help pay off farm loans for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers — a group that includes Black and other minority farmers, who have long faced discrimination from lenders and

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