The Equity Of Equity

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I very much enjoyed your thought-provoking story concerning the "passion for ownership." Ownership is such a crucial factor in the very fabric of American society. I find it heartening to know that so many companies are beginning to include their employees by providing them with an opportunity to accumulate a capital estate in the enterprise they are employed by.

For the past 12 years, I have pushed for the enactment of federal tax incentives that are designed to encourage employee ownership through the use of employee stock ownership plans. As common sense suggests, companies in which employees have a stake are more productive and profitable (and pay more taxes). They also tend to be better places to work.

Employee ownership brings a missing ingredient to the American workplace, an ingredient that is essential to this nation's long-term worldwide competitive position.

Let me urge your readers to voice their concern on this ownership issue to President Reagan. His Treasury has recommended that federal tax incentives for employee ownership be eliminated in the name of "tax reform." That appears to be a step backward and an issue upon which forward-looking companies may wish to make their views known.