The stock market boom reflected a deeper shift in corporate priorities, one that was cutting off workers from the economy’s gains. Today, the idea that a company’s first duty is to boost its stock price and enrich shareholders can feel like common sense. The incentives were clear: what lifted the stock price lifted the CEO. Yet Boeing’s stock price continued climbing, reaching an all-time high on March 1, 2019. As Lazonick sees it, Boeing’s focus on boosting its stock price had come at the expense of investing in the people and systems needed to build safer airplanes.