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Capitalism is in trouble – at least judging by recent polls.
A majority of American millennials reject the economic system, while 55% of women age 18 to 54 say they prefer socialism. More Democrats now have a positive view of socialism than capitalism. And globally, 56% of respondents to a new survey agree "capitalism as it exists today does more harm than good in the world."
One problem interpreting numbers like these is that there are many definitions of capitalism and socialism. More to the point, people seem to be thinking of a specific form of capitalism that deems the sole purpose of companies is to increase stock prices and enrich investors. Known as shareholder capitalism, it's been the guiding light of American business for more than four decades. That's what the survey meant by "as it exists today."
As a scholar of socially responsible companies, however, I cannot help but notice a shift in corporate behavior in recent years. A new kind of capitalism seems to be emerging, one in which companies value communities, the environment and workers just as much as profits.
The latest evidence: Companies as diverse as alcohol maker AB InBev, airline JetBlue and money manager BlackRock have all in recent weeks made new commitments to pursue more sustainable business practices.
[...] A 2017 study showed that many companies with climate change goals actually scaled back their ambitions over time as the reality clashed with their lofty goals.
But businesses can't afford to ignore their customers' wishes. Nor can they ignore their workers in a tight labor market. And if they disregard socially responsible investors, they risk both losing out on important investments and facing shareholder resolutions that force change.
The shareholder value doctrine is not dead, but we are beginning to see major cracks in its armor. And as long as investors, customers and employees continue to push for more responsible behavior, you should expect to see those cracks grow.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 24 2020, @09:46PM (2 children)
I think there is a balance to a lot of things about public policy. It is either extreme that is bad. Capitalism run amok. Or alternately government regulation run amok. I would venture a guess that many government regulations were the result of bad behavior by businesses that had a collateral damage effect on other people.
Back in about 2000 to 2005, I had this co-worker I debated with about Open Source versus Microsoft. This is back when Microsoft looked like it might take over the world. This guy absolutely hated open source. Naturally, I was a huge fan of open source, Linux and a Microsoft hater. At one point I remarked something like: If Microsoft doesn't like open source, then they probably shouldn't have acted in a way that caused it to come to become a popular and growing movement. And that is really true. If the 1990s weren't littered with numerous destroyed companies in the wake of Microsoft, then there probably wouldn't be a push for Linux on PC type hardware. As it was, a Linux PC could out do the features and stability of any Microsoft server product.
Now to come back to topic, I would compare that to government vs corporate behavior. If corporations didn't act in a way to create a need for regulation, there probably wouldn't be so much. And if other people didn't try to over regulate, there wouldn't be such push back against it.
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(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday January 24 2020, @10:57PM
Capitalism and government regulations are not in opposition. There are many quite decent arguments that capitalism couldn't exist without support from the government, or at least not any more than it exists among the illegal drug merchants. But even they depend on government backed currency...so maybe not that much. Perhaps more like medieval merchants who took trades, and valued money only as a trade good. And depended on their hired guards to try to ensure that business was profitable. (See "Robin Hood and the Bold Peddlar", but remember that that's a fictional account.)
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(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 25 2020, @03:53AM
They mostly were. Unfortunately they were also written by combinations of corrupt fuckwads and idiots who would saw off the limb they're sitting on for ideological reasons, so they were overwhelmingly the wrong regulations.
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