海角大神

Back in 2015, before Bernie Sanders began drawing big crowds and long before a Green New Deal was generating buzz among Democrats, Larry Kudlow gave a talk in which he emphasized a simple message to fellow conservatives: 鈥淵ou and I must fight鈥� if the virtues of free markets are to be preserved.

鈥淭hey are not going to give it to us on a silver platter,鈥� the champion of conservative economics in Michigan, referring to his concerns that advocates of bigger government will erode the nation鈥檚 ability to generate prosperity.

The sense that capitalism isn鈥檛 delivering on its promises in the new millennium actually goes back further. First came a widening gap between haves and have-nots. Then came the 2007 financial crisis and Great Recession, which spurred the discouraged young people staging the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests. And it was evident in the guffaws when 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney asserted that 鈥渃orporations are people.鈥�

Well, here we are in 2019. The U.S. unemployment rate has plunged to 3.8 percent, wages are rising, and Americans have gotten a tax cut. Yet the questions about capitalism haven鈥檛 gone away.

A rising star among House Democrats, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, embraces the socialist label and recently called capitalism because of the concentration of capital and the goal of maximizing profits. Some Democrats in the 2020 presidential race are making similar critiques.

Capitalism, it appears, still needs defenders, and some are rising to the task, including Mr. Kudlow, who is now the top economic adviser to President Donald Trump. Despite all the attention lately on socialism, either as a promise or a menace, the question for the U.S. is less about replacing private enterprise than about whether the system requires some new rules in an era of high concern about social fairness, inequality, and younger generations falling behind on dreams like homeownership.

Where some capitalists are asserting the need for reforms, Mr. Kudlow remains in the 鈥渇ight鈥� camp. At a Monitor Breakfast for reporters Wednesday, he聽offered a forceful defense of free-market traditions. He didn鈥檛 give an inch on policies aimed at addressing inequality.

鈥淭he issue of the Democratic Party tilting toward socialism is a very significant political development and one which I believe would do great damage to the economy,鈥� he said. Instead of redistribution, he said 鈥渋t鈥檚 much more important to grow the economy, to expand the economic pie. And to exercise one鈥檚 God-given talents.鈥�

His comments reflect widely held strains of thought among conservatives and many business leaders. But there鈥檚 also a contrasting view among other defenders of capitalism: that the best way to save it is to reform it 鈥� or even that capitalism鈥檚 fullest promise can be realized only by improving the system.

And for many in the business community, capitalism鈥檚 shortcomings transcend partisan politics.聽For them, the concern isn鈥檛 just that the nation鈥檚 politics are roiled by populism or discouragement among low-paid workers. For many it鈥檚 also about their long-term business prospects. Social mobility has declined in the United States even as rich-poor income gaps have widened. The stock market has surged since the recession, yet the richest 10 percent of Americans own about 84 percent of all stock. And while jobs are abundant, two-thirds of workers, , are either disengaged or 鈥渘ot engaged 鈥� not cognitively and emotionally connected to their work and workplace.鈥�

鈥淲e need to respond,鈥� says Rajendra Sisodia, a business professor at Babson College in聽Wellesley, Massachusetts. 鈥淲e need to celebrate [capitalism], but we also need to elevate capitalism.鈥�

He says a movement to do just that is gaining momentum, symbolized by the rise of so-called social and the arrival of investors seeking social impact as well as profit. An effort he leads, called 鈥�,鈥� now has 50 chapters (in 18 countries) and is on the way to doubling that, he says.

Professor Sisodia is as much a true believer in capitalism as Mr. Kudlow is. As he sees it, the ideas of property rights and free markets enabled people to tap the potential of technological innovation, powering a shift in the human experience from poverty toward opportunity since the Industrial Revolution.

He because it鈥檚 based on voluntary exchange of labor, money, and goods.

But he also sees a hole to fill, notably spreading the benefits more widely. The system should work better 鈥渇or the billions, not just the billionaires.鈥� Citing the percentage of young people in the U.S. who are turned off by capitalism, he says 鈥淚t鈥檚聽an extremely dangerous thing because we know socialism is not the answer.鈥�

He鈥檚 far from alone in being an evangelist for a new style of capitalism. A number of prominent investors, , have begun promoting the idea that corporations and the economy within which they operate will be healthier when firms identify a mission to have a positive impact in the world.

For one thing, that kind of mission can help attract talent by tapping worker aspirations for meaningful careers.

The mantra of profit maximization as the essential goal of corporations, drilled in at many business schools, remains a powerful force. It鈥檚 seen by many executives as their fiduciary duty. But increasingly discussion has shifted to whether purpose goes hand in hand with profit rather than diverting from that goal.

Meanwhile, the political debates over capitalism are bound to continue as the 2020 election campaign heats up. Among Democratic presidential candidates, there鈥檚 over whether to .

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who says capitalism is good with the right safeguards in place, has proposed an 鈥淎ccountable Capitalism Act鈥� that, among other things, would give workers a significant voice on corporate boards. And she and others are proposing plans aimed at building greater economic security by ensuring access to things like health care and child care.

To Mr. Kudlow, the need is not to reform capitalism but to defend against changes that might slash economic growth. He tallies up proposals from Democrats on health care benefits, ending the use of fossil fuels, and 鈥渇inancing people who are not working or don鈥檛 wish to work鈥� and says, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the opposition party has been honest about this.鈥�

鈥淭he idea that you鈥檙e going to raise the top tax rate to 70 percent or 80 percent or whatever wouldn鈥檛 even remotely finance [all that],鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be economic decimation.鈥�