Do-good Capitalism: Fad or Fixture?

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  thinkingSage03/28/08 Report as spam
  1

  we'd better hope not...

  I propose framing the discussion along the lines of this:
  
  "The economics of Sustainable Capitalism will become increasingly apparent as the global economy, along with the global ecology, undergo a radical and exciting shift because of the 'Do-bad Capitalism' of the past two centuries."

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  Michael Fitzgerald06/03/08 Report as spam
  2

  re: do-based capitalism

  I wouldn't call it do-bad capitalism, per se. I think companies have tended to focus on just their aims, but we're a long way from Dickensian capitalism. Not that abuses don't happen, but we have seen the rise of regulation to counter the worst aspects of unfettered capitalism, as societies decided that economic profit was not the only good. We have also seen the rise of the environmental movement and the idea of conservation. This latest stage of social capitalism suggests to me that many companies understand that it's bad marketing to be seen as focused only on making money. We'll see how long that lasts.
  
  Michael Fitzgerald

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  pfreire@...03/31/08 Report as spam
  3

  It's mostly a mentality issue. People will tell.

  Do-good capitalism is mostly about companies' perception that people nowadays value this behaviour. This comes from a mentality shift brought by people having a better education, more information, more time to consider matters beyond their daily survival and more common concerns about social and environmental issues (mostly from the awareness of the damage that has been and is being done). If these conditions prevail, so will people's view and the corporate attitude. However, should conditions change significantly in a different direction, then who knows...

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  Michael Fitzgerald06/03/08 Report as spam
  4

  re: mentality

  In other words, if we apply Maslow's pyramid for capitalism, we're getting close to the top and can focus on other needs. With the ominous idea that if our society goes to hell (see my post on Tony Judt's fearful critique of our economy: http://blogs.bnet.com/business-books/?p=122)
  
  MIchael Fitzgerald