Big Business Loves Hillary. Capitalism Is Not So Sure...
Of course, my reaction was "Are you kidding?" However there is some truth to this and Jimmy P. shows what is really at work here. "Big business" is not "Business", and Big Business is not the source of the dynamism in our capitalist system. Let's call up the words of Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps yet again:"Why, then...is capitalism so reviled in Western Continental Europe? ...it appears that the recent street protesters associate business with established wealth; in their minds, giving greater latitude to businesses would increase the privileges of old wealth. By an "entrepreneur" they appear to mean a rich owner of a bank or factory, while for Schumpeter and Knight it meant a newcomer, a parvenu who is an outsider. A tremendous confusion is created by associating "capitalism" with entrenched wealth and power."
So let's translate this real simple like..."Big Business Does Not Equal Capitalism"...and cite some examples:
Bill Ford = Big Business; Bill Hewlett = Capitalism
Bill Gates Circa 2007 = Big Business; Bill Gates Circa 1978 = Capitalism
Your Average Supermarket = Big Business; Wegman's (or Stew Leonard's) = Capitalism
Budweiser = Big Business; Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA = Capitalism
Banking Hours = Big Business; Internet banking & branches open 'til 7pm = Capitalism
HMOs = Big Business; A Vitrectomy = Capitalism
Public Education = Big Business; Sylvan Learning Centers = Capitalism
Airlines = Big Business; Webex = Capitalism
Newsweek = Big Business; Pajamas Media = Capitalism
Big Business does not make the American economy great. Capitalism makes America's economy great. I think it is fair to say that Capitalism is, shall we say, not yet overly smitten with Hillary.
posted by Donny Baseball at 11:37 AM
2 Comments:
I think it depends on who runs the business, instead of the size of the business. For example, if a big business is run by entrepreneurial owners/managers, then it's capitalism. On the other hand, many local small businesses exist thanks to protection from government regulation and are anti competition and anti capitalism. I would say in general that management or owners that welcome free market (and thus competition) are for capitalism. It's a counter intuitive concept in business, i.e., most managers/investors think like Buffett - monopoly is good for business; and therefore, they want protection, instead of competition. This is why I think Buffett is a super businessman, but only a so so investor. He doesn't know how to harvest the power of capitalism.
You are correct my friend, but my generalization isn't far off the mark. To add to your point, what makes big business managers run their businesses like capitalists is competition from smaller companies or foreign companies.
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