Now these gaps are growing in our society, tamping down middle class aspirations and eroding our collective sense of citizenship. would point with horror at the gaps in income between the elites, working class, and poor in developing countries. It was not too long ago that citizens in the U.S. It is a problem for America, but it is not necessarily a problem for American business.
But take this quote from a leading hedge fund manager cited by Freeland: “.if the transformation of the world economy lifts four people in China and India out of poverty and into the middle class, and meanwhile means one American drops of out the middle class, that’s not such a bad trade.” Or consider this bon mot from the CEO of Allstate: “I can get (workers) anywhere in the world. Looking over 2010 trends in CEO compensation, Gretchen Morgenson, in the New York Times finds “record” pay raises and concludes that companies are “enriching a few at the expense of the many.” Casting a broader gaze at these trends, Chrystia Freeland, in the Atlantic Monthly, observes that we are at the stage now where people making 5-10 million per annum “definitely don’t think they are making enough money.” Well, they aren’t if you juxtapose their wealth against what she calls “The Rise of the New Global Elite.”Ī positive relationship between capitalism and commonweal is integral to the health of a society. Evidently it is, but in some perverse ways. You’d think that this would be a “big” issue in American companies. has risen-and remains near its recessionary highs. Meanwhile the percentage of people below the poverty line in the U.S. And signs are that in 2010, the rich have been disproportionately enriched again. But, between 20, two-thirds of all income growth went to the top 1 percent of the population. What’s the story in the U.S.? Our nation added twenty-five billionaires last year and the number of millionaires jumped 8 percent. The result? More billionaires in both lands, but also many more millionaires, a growing middle class, and declines in those impoverished at the base of the pyramid. But between 19, it grew roughly 68 percent and from 19, roughly 245 percent and since it has continued to grow -despite the financial crises. Take India and China: Before 1950 per capita income was flat in both countries. Go to Sao Paulo, Moscow, New Delhi, or Shanghai (or Santiago, Johannesburg, or Ljubljana) and you will see growth, renewal, and manifestations of prosperity unimaginable decades ago. What does this mean for corporate citizenship? However, as the wealth, and attendant power and influence of billionaires (and the many more multi-millionaires) grows, questions are raised about the “fit” between democracy and what seems to a rising plutocracy.
students learn that we live in a system of democratic-capitalism. still leads in this count, but its share has declined from one-half of the total a decade ago to one-third today.) Considering the billionaire scorecard overall, it looks like global capitalism is working. The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) added 108 of the 214 new names to the list. Forbes has just published its “2011 Billionaires List” which now numbers 1,200 individuals having with a combined wealth of $4.5 trillion. Meanwhile, the democratic process in established locales like the U.S., as well as Britain and Germany, though conflictual in the case of national budgets, demonstrates the continued vitality of this political system for “doing the public’s business.”Īnother stream of news has to do with the stunning creation of wealth around the world.
Brazil, Peru, and other “young” democracies are working through conflicts smoothly (relatively so in case of Peru). In Egypt, Tunisia, and other lands in the Middle East, the public is challenging and in some cases ridding itself of dictators and making moves toward democracy and reform. One set of “news” has to do with the rise of democracy in developing nations and its perturbations in the developed world. Scattered new stories, in print, on TV, and on line, point to two different trends that should complement but may clash with one another.
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