New York Times (August 13)
“Not content to steer the ship of state, our president apparently wants to run the ship of commerce, too. Literally. The entire Fortune 500.” President Trump thinks “he is the C.E.O. of Everything…. In ripping up numerous business regulations, Donald Trump seems intent on replacing them with himself.” This “is bad for corporations, consumers and capitalism. Please just run the executive branch, Mr. President, and let real executives run the businesses of America.”
Tags: Bad, Business regulations, C.E.O. of Everything, Capitalism, Commerce, Consumers, Content, Corporations, Executives, Fortune 500, Ship of state, Trump
New York Times (May 6)
When Warren Buffet unexpectedly announced his retirement at the end of 2025, “people in the crowd, many of whom were in tears, rose from their seats in a standing ovation for a singular figure in the business world.” The Oracle of Omaha, as he is known, “is often described as a symbol of American capitalism. In truth, he is an outlier. He is more the conscience of capitalism, willing to speak uncomfortable truths about the system’s ills while others remained silent.” A humble billionaire, Buffet “always comes across as a gentleman, and in an age of distrust he has become a trusted figure.” No doubt, another “of his biggest accomplishments” was “using his annual Berkshire letters and marathon Q&A sessions with shareholders to educate generations about business, investing and life itself.”
Tags: Berkshire, Buffet, Capitalism, Conscience, Educate, Gentleman, Humble, Oracle of Omaha, Outlier, Ovation, Q&A, Retirement, Shareholders, Tears, Trusted, U.S., Uncomfortable truths
The Guardian (April 3)
“The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks.” Günther Thallinger, a member of the board of Allianz SE, warned “that without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments.” The climate crisis could “destroy capitalism…with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate.”
Tags: Allianz, Capitalism, Climate risks, Cost, Cover, Crisis, Destroy, Extreme weather, Financial services, Insurance, Insurers, Investments, Mortgages, Temperature, Thallinger, Unviable, World
Wall Street Journal (December 2)
“Like much of corporate America today, the Nasdaq is virtue signaling at the expense of someone else. This is far from its reason for being, which is a marketplace to raise money while spreading the benefits of capitalism and corporate ownership. Imposing its own identity politics on some 3,300 listed companies meddles in corporate management and will harm economic growth and job creation.” [Nasdaq is seeking minimum quotas of women and minority/LGBTQ directors on corporate boards.]
Tags: Capitalism, Corporate America, Growth, Identity politics, Job creation, Management, Marketplace, Money, Nasdaq, Ownership, Virtue signaling
Business Insider (October 5)
“Pope Francis echoed Warren Buffett in blaming unfettered capitalism for rising inequality in a letter to the Catholic Church’s bishops titled Fratelli Tutti over the weekend.” The Pontiff “pointed to the pandemic’s fallout, including massive unemployment spikes around the world, as evidence that ‘not everything can be resolved by market freedom.’”
Tags: Buffett, Capitalism, Catholic, Fallout, Francis, Fratelli Tutti, Inequality, Market freedom, Pandemic, Pope, Unemployment, Unfettered
The Economist (May 25)
“Most of the rich world is enjoying a jobs boom of unprecedented scope. Not only is work plentiful, but it is also, on average, getting better. Capitalism is improving workers’ lot faster than it has in years, as tight labour markets enhance their bargaining power.”
Tags: Bargaining power, Capitalism, Jobs boom, Labour markets, Plentiful, Rich world, Unprecedented scope, Work, Workers
The Economist (February 2)
“The iron-ore mines in Minas Gerais look like roughshod capitalism let loose.” On Monday, a tailing dam break released “a wave of sludge that may have killed more than 350 people,” making this “one of the worst tailings tragedies in history.” Furthermore, “this is the second such disaster in which” Vale, the mine operator, has been “implicated in just over three years.” This disaster should be a “cause for soul-searching” for Vale and for the global mining industry.
Tags: Capitalism, Disaster, Iron ore, Minas Gerais, Mining industry, Sludge, Soul-searching, Tailing dam, Vale
New York Times (October 30)
The rising populism in Germany and around the globe “is not the anger of a classic loony fringe, but rather mainstream people striking out at elites who they believe have lost touch with reality and common sense. To many here, the refugee crisis, the euro crisis, the Ukraine crisis and the threats seen in an unleashed global capitalism have converged in a fundamental question: Do the mighty still know what they are doing?”
Tags: Anger, Capitalism, Common sense, Elites, Euro crisis, Fringe, Germany, Mainstream, Populism, Reality, Refugees, Ukraine
Chicago Tribune (August 13)
“China’s adolescent angst” is to be expected. Apparent wealth and strength aside, “it’s helpful to keep some perspective on a place that was impoverished and practically irrelevant 35 years ago. Despite its size, the Chinese economy is still an underdeveloped work in progress, fumbling through the transition from closed communism to some form of market-driven capitalism.”
Tags: Adolescent, Angst, Capitalism, China, Communism, Economy, Fumbling, Impoverished, Transition, Underdeveloped
The Economist (November 1)
“Leading students of capitalism have been pronouncing the death rites of family companies for decades” and yet these firms continue to thrive. Indeed, “the proportion of Fortune 500 companies that can be described as family companies increased from 15% in 2005 to 19% today.” One reason for their resilience is that family firms “have got better at addressing their obvious weaknesses.”
