The genius of American capitalism
The Economist runs a mostly upbeat assessment of the state of the American economy. The closing paragraph makes a powerful point: The key to the recovery is the persistence of America’s extraordinary dynamism. Labour and capital are quickly recycled and recombined with ever-improving materials, energy and information technologies to advance growth. Politicians, the press and ...
The Economist runs a mostly upbeat assessment of the state of the American economy. The closing paragraph makes a powerful point:
The Economist runs a mostly upbeat assessment of the state of the American economy. The closing paragraph makes a powerful point:
The key to the recovery is the persistence of America’s extraordinary dynamism. Labour and capital are quickly recycled and recombined with ever-improving materials, energy and information technologies to advance growth. Politicians, the press and America’s corporate footsoldiers naturally tend to celebrate only the expansionary, risk-taking part of the business cycle. And even America’s battered bosses seem to find the restructuring phase miserable work. But the real genius of American capitalism may not be its celebrated appetite for risk, but the brutal and uncompromising way in which it deals with the inevitable failures that follow. Despite the obvious signs of an economic upswing, much of American business is still concerned with cleaning up yesterday’s mess. Yet with the clean-up well under way, some firms are already dusting down growth strategies once again, and at least a few businessmen are daring to show signs of spontaneous optimism.
Indeed.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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