Long Term Capitalism
The call , from Dominic Barton of McKinsey came in 2011 with an article for Harvard Business Review:
“Business leaders today face a choice: We can reform capitalism, or we can let capitalism be reformed for us, through political measures and the pressures of an angry public. The good news is that the reforms will not only increase trust in the system; they will also strengthen the system itself. They will unleash the innovation needed to tackle the world’s grand challenges, pave the way for a new era of shared prosperity, and restore public faith in business.”
He was reiterating a point made a year ealier, at the International Economics for Ecology conference at Sumy State University, when for-purpose business pioneer Terry Hallman presented to the opening plenary, repeating what he’d argued in a 1996 treatise:
19. We can choose to not reform capitalism, leave human beings to die from deprivation — where we are now — and understand that that puts people in self-defense mode.
20. When in self-defense mode, kill or be killed, there is no civilization at all. It is the law of the jungle, where we started eons ago. In that context, ‘terrorism’ will likely flourish because it is ‘terrorism’ only for the haves, not for the have-nots. The have-nots already live in terror, as their existence is threatened by deprivation, and they have the right to fight back any way they can.
21. ‘They’ will fight back, and do.
He died in 2011 as Occupy Wall Street and The Arab Spring proved his point.
In their Long Term Capitalism initative , I had the opportunity to share how he’d put it into practice. I described it as “Re-imagining Capitalism: The new ‘bottom line’”.
The title reflected to an argument made repeatedly about taking the bottom line past maximising shareholder value , to people.
I referred to a point made in Hallman’s 2006 ‘Marshall Plan’ strategy for Ukraine:
‘This is a long-term permanently sustainable program, the basis for “people-centered” economic development. Core focus is always on people and their needs, with neediest people having first priority — as contrasted with the eternal chase for financial profit and numbers where people, social benefit, and human well-being are often and routinely overlooked or ignored altogether. This is in keeping with the fundamental objectives of Marshall Plan: policy aimed at hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. This is a bottom-up approach, starting with Ukraine’s poorest and most desperate citizens, rather than a “top-down” approach that might not ever benefit them. They cannot wait, particularly children. Impedance by anyone or any group of people constitutes precisely what the original Marshall Plan was dedicated to opposing. Those who suffer most, and those in greatest need, must be helped first — not secondarily, along the way or by the way. ‘
In 2o16 Dominic Baron published Re-imagining Capitalism
“Is capitalism still improving wealth and well-being for the many? Or, is long-term value creation being sacrificed to the pressures of short-termism, with potentially far-reaching consequences for society, the natural environment, prosperity, and global order? This book reflects both the urgency of the needed action and the tremendous opportunity to forge consensus and catalyze a lasting movement toward a more responsible, long-term, and sustainable model of capitalism. This book brings together many of the leading proponents for a reformed, re-imagined capitalism from the fields of academia, business, and NGOs. Its contributors have been at the forefront of thought and action in regard to the future of capitalism. Both individually and collectively, they provide powerful suggestions of what such a long-term oriented model of capitalism should look like and how it can be achieved.”
I didn’t buy it to check if we were attributed, but I did learn later from Bloomberg that McKinsey had been helping a prominent oligarch develop another ‘Marshall Plan’ for Ukraine.
