Protesters rallied and tented near Wall Street in 2011, attempting to draw attention to injustices in income inequality. The Occupy Wall Street protest garnered international attention and spawned other protests around the world.

Robert Ashford, a professor of law at the Syracuse University College of Law, said that Occupy Wall Street did not go far enough.

“Don’t occupy Wall Street,” Ashford said. “Acquire it.”

Ashford held three lectures on inclusive capitalism at the College of Law on Wednesday. During his lectures he said the principle could reduce welfare dependence and taxes, grow the economy and increase infrastructure investment and entrepreneurship.

Inclusive capitalism is the principle that the economy will grow and corporations will thrive when they distribute the ownership of their machines, factories and other capital to a broader group of people, Ashford said. When more people have increased wealth, they can then become better consumers, buying more goods and growing the economy, he said.

To broaden the access to owning capital, large corporations could allow fiduciaries of customers, and employees to buy stock on insured loans, Ashford said. In this case, the companies win because their customers are wealthier, he added.

He said he wants to make the ability to earn money off the ownership of capital accessible to a broader group of people.

Ashford first came across the principleof inclusive capitalism 40 years ago, but he said he hadn’t seen anyone teach it. For a long time, he has been told time and time again that society isn’t ready for it.

People at SU and in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs could change the curriculum around capitalism, but instead older economic principles are taught, Ashford said. He said he has worked 12 hours a day, five days a week for seven years teaching and talking about inclusive capitalism, trying to move the seemingly immovable needle.

“I have to convince Kent Syverud that this is an extraordinary idea,” Ashford said. “Another student shouldn’t graduate from this institution or any other institution without learning this principle.”

Published on April 19, 2019 at 8:00 pm

Contact Patrick: pjlineha@syr.edu