Bernie Sanders is a good man who unfortunately did no one a favor, including himself, by branding himself a socialist. He isn’t one according to the standard definition of socialism, which is a system where the government owns the means of production (such as factories, agricultural fields, and hospitals). Whether Bernie says it or not, he believes in capitalism as an economic system. He just wants to distribute the wealth generated by capitalism more fairly. For decades, capitalist governments in Western Europe have been ensuring everyone has healthcare, access to vocational training, various safety nets, and often free college. My husband has been working with companies in the capitalist systems of Europe for the last 40 years. The more progressive ones have often been called “welfare states,” a label Europeans embrace to communicate demonstrated concern over the welfare of their people. (That label…
Strategic Inflection Points brought to you by COVID-19
Andy Grove, the talented and legendary Intel leader, defined the term, “Strategic Inflection Points.” All leaders must embrace his recommendation to pay keen attention to such times in a company’s life. React too late, and your business will not catch up. In his words, strategic inflection points capture “what happens to a business when a significant change takes place in its competitive environment. A major change due to introduction of new technologies. A major change due to the introduction of a different regulatory environment. The major change can be simply a change in the customers’ values, a change in what customers prefer. Almost always, it hits the corporation in such a way that those of us in senior management are among the last ones to notice. What is common to all of them and what is key is that they require a fundamental…
Are we facing a V, U, or L-shaped economic future?
Will we have a V, U, or L future? Since the 2008 deep recession, we’ve had an upward movement of Gross Domestic Product and other measures of economic well-being. Growing income inequality and too-low wages were notable criticisms. But even these issues were being addressed. After all, there is no better anti-poverty program than a strong economy. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. A business owner friend said it’s like a boxing match Round One when the first punch is a bout-ending knockout. He has never seen such a sudden downturn in his many years as a business-to-business CEO and owner. What will our national growth rate look like in the months and years ahead? There are three potential outcomes for the nation, a V-pattern (rapid recovery to pre-pandemic levels), U-pattern (slump followed by recovery), or an L-pattern (the economy stays depressed for years…