Trump, Bankman-Fried and Musk are the Monsters of American Capitalism
Kirchner Group
Our value proposition centers around a pragmatic approach to serving the needs of the private capital world.
The Headline
Trump, Bankman-Fried and Musk are the monsters of American capitalism
The Byline
As summarized by Robert Reich and posted on December 24, 2022, in The Guardian:
“For them, and for everyone who still regards them as heroes, there is no morality in business or economics. The winnings go to the most ruthless.”
The Punchline
“But absent any moral code, greed is a public danger. Its poison cannot be contained by laws or accepted norms. Everyone is forced to guard against the next con (or else pull an even bigger con). Laws are broken whenever the gains from breaking them exceed the penalties (multiplied by the odds of getting caught). Social trust erodes.”
The Storyline
“If this past week presents any single lesson, it’s the social costs of greed. Capitalism is premised on greed but also on guardrails – laws and norms – that prevent greed from becoming so excessive that it threatens the system as a whole.”
“Yet the guardrails can’t hold when avarice becomes the defining trait of an era, as it is now. Laws and norms are no match for the possibility of raking in billions if you’re sufficiently ruthless and unprincipled.”
The Heuristic
“Presumably Adam Smith would have bemoaned the growing inequalities, corruption, and cynicism spawned by modern capitalism.”
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