What Should Be the Purpose of Corporations? | Robert Reich
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- Опубліковано 23 гру 2024
- Robert Reich examines the role of corporations in America and how decisions of executives impact the rest of the economy.
Watch More: The Monopolization of America ►► • The Monopolization of ...
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People like Robert Reich who put their talks online like this for free are amazing. They don’t hide their knowledge and wisdom behind a paywall when they know what they are spreading is for the good of everybody.
Neither do they hide their shortsightedness and bias.
@Andrea Mendenhall unfortunately..........
Oh don't worry about that. Mr. Reich charges $40k for a one hour speaking fee. Between speaking engagements and his salary from Berkeley, he makes a fine living.
this is a case of when you pay for nothing you get nothing. His examples and scenarios are set p to push a narrative. He always makes corporations out to be evil bodies that are there to make evil shareholders rich at the expense of poor workers. He oversimplifies a process and then exaggerates the negatives.
@@robertprice9052 but this is NOT the case & that your ramblings mean NOTHING.
Robert Reich I really wish you live a long life we need more people like you in the world to set things straight.
Greed was the downfall of every great empire. The US is not exempt.
Lately. The truth is kinda shitty.
This system isn't unique to the US. Many big companies are multinational.
@@gxulien that ain't how America sees it
@@gxulien Thus the need to beak them up and democrize them. No corporation should have profits that are greater than the GDP of some smaller nations.
Not true communist china said all work was equal as a result people starved only when capitalism was institute d did there economy prosper Reich says you can pay low skilled workers high wages and prosper that always leads to a stagnet economy and all of us suffer
Professor Robert Reich is on the money! Thank you for your wise advice to our college students and the rest of us in UA-cam world!
I wish I had a professor doing such great lectures when I was at university.
I so love that we can audit his classes like this! Please keep doing this--thanks Inequality Media! :)
he is smarter than his students he knows more than they do I don't know their background it seems they did not go through anything in their life
This reminds me of a conversation I had with my brother when he was a senior VP at Qualcomm. I was railing about the evils of corporations, and he set me straight. The AREN'T evil - they are profit machines - totally AMORAL - which is different. He went on to explain that that is why he supports far greater regulation on them - so decent executives can survive and compete on a level playing field. If anyone here knows about Foxconn in China, they got famous for being a bad place to work, and my brother helped set up the deal to have a lot of Qualcomm stuff made there. But, he explained, there were many cheaper options that he was under a lot of pressure to choose and they were even worse, and he had to work hard to build a case for the lesser of the evils. And yet, in a very competitive market, what could they do? If they chose a vendor whose prices were not competitive because they treated their workers well, then Samsung, Apple, Nokia and others would leave them in the dust, ans he would be fired. BUT, conversely, these profit machines are great economic drivers. But you would not build a car with an 800 HP engine and no brakes. Corporations as they are can be a GREAT engine - but we still need brakes, steering, seat belts and air bags to make a proper vehicle.
You basically just explained what makes them evil. You can talk about anecdotal exceptions, but the majority net behavior of corporations will be excessively self serving (I.e., evil) as long as profit is the primary objective.
@@andybaldman
The effect is usually evil because the actions are amoral. Tell me do you invest in the markets? Even a 401K? There is no practical way to delve into all the business practices of every company. The effect is, that maintaining share value depends on returns - profits. Would you hold an investment that was losing money just because the company was acting ethically? Maybe you would, but 99.9% of people won't - because it is their retirement or even livelihood on the line.
Then drill down to the consumer level - they don't have the time or inclination to thoroughly research a company's business before choosing between products. Price and perceived quality are what matter.
So unless almost EVERYONE is "evil" you are mistaken. From the consumer to the CEO, this is a naturally amoral system - which is WHY it needs regulation.
@@pdoylemi It feels like you're agreeing with me. Just with different words. And I'd say the same thing is true of your original post with your brother. It sounds like he's saying 'we are evil, which is why we need regulation'', without using those words, because it's very difficult for someone to admit that they or something they are in charge of is evil. Honestly, his answer is very 'corporate', where the best managers and CEO's have a talent for communicating difficult things, but in ways that are indirect and feel more palatable (by not triggering certain emotions).
'Amoral' is defined as, "lacking a moral sense; unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something". And it seems you agree when you say, "The effect is usually evil because the actions are amoral". Amorality that ultimately leads to evil, is still evil. The only difference is that it happens slowly enough that the people inside the corporations get captured by self-serving incentives (and the profits that come with them), and don't realize it. And it snowballs slowly enough that the frogs don't realize they're being boiled.
Combine that societally with other companies who are doing the amoral thing to get an advantage. Then you and everyone else NEEDS to do the same amoral thing to get that same advantage, else you risk losing to the competition. Scale that dynamic across a society, and the resulting higher-level system becomes a race to the bottom.
So yes, I would say that almost everyone today (at least in America) is in some form of that position. The people who run companies are self-interested, and it trickles down from there. All the way to the bottom, where the general consumer mainly wants things for themselves, only caring about price and perceived quality, and nothing else.
When everyone's 'spheres of empathy' don't extend much further than the ends of their noses, you end up with a bunch of discrete cells that are only looking out for themselves. They are incapable of organizing (no pun intended) into something like a lung or heart or brain, which serves a greater system and shares power with other organs in a synergistic way, that is a result of radical collaboration, balance, mutual cooperation, and awareness (which produces this thing we call life), rather than pure self-interest (which eventually produces an imbalanced power structure that ultimately collapses on itself, taking many other things with it.).
Also, regulation of evil doesn't really result in anything much better. Because attempts to regulate things that don't want to be regulated, result in those things just finding new ways to evade or elude the regulation. The proper solution is cultural enlightenment, where awareness is raised across a system, so that it realizes the consequences of its own actions (i.e., the sphere of empathy expands), and changes its ways to align with a greater good under its own motivation, not because an external force forced it to via regulation.
@@andybaldman
*_"The proper solution is cultural enlightenment, where awareness is raised across a system, so that it realizes the consequences of its own actions (i.e., the sphere of empathy expands), and changes its ways to align with a greater good under its own motivation, not because an external force forced it to via regulation."_*
Sure - when do we start singing "Kumbaya"? All we need to do is change human nature! AND somehow make it EASY for people to know everything they need to know about the products they buy and the investments they are in! Do you REALLY think you are going to get people struggling to get by to care where or how the low price goods they buy were made? Hell, getting people who CAN afford to pay more to do so is nearly impossible - unless they are VERY rich and like to buy "prestige" brands for their own ego.
@@pdoylemi Human nature has greedy selfish sides, and also giving and altruistic sides. The seeds of both exist within every one of us. I believe from personal experience that which one you get from people can be highly affected by the environment they are in. Some systems bring out the worst in people (capitalism and social media are two examples), because of the nature of their design, and how incentives are structured. But to say "there's only one kind of human nature and you can't change it'" is something I don't believe to be true. To me that's like saying "a horse is the fastest way for a person to travel by", or "cars will always run on gasoline". Yes, those things were true for long periods of time. But that doesn't mean they will never evolve.
Somehow, trillions of cells in your body work together to make this thing you call you, which can literally walk the entire earth. Yet one cell sitting alone on a table will not get very far before it dies. They key is in how systems of cells are organized, communicate, and work together to produce something bigger. And that's an area where I believe we are in our infancy about as humans, as we have very few ways of organizing currently, and they come with inherent problems. But there's nothing to say those are the only ways. It just can be hard to picture or understand things we haven't discovered yet, and/or have not yet become mainstream. (Just like a person riding a horse in 1776 would have a hard time wrapping their head around the ideas of a television, microwave oven, or Tesla automobile.)
But I do believe (and have experienced) systems that incentivize collaboration and cooperation over self-interest. And once you've experienced one, it's honestly really hard to go back. I think there is much opportunity in that area for evolution, involving new ways of organizing people and creating protocols by which they communicate, take in and share information, listen to each other, make decisions, and act collectively as organisms, not just individuals. Basically making systems of people that act more like brains, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and centralized control of a CEO or owner is replaced by distributed protocols that let a group of people function more efficiently and effectively without central control (which also eliminates the factor of centralized power, which is one of the main things that make traditional hierarchical systems inherently unbalanced.)
The listening part is an important one, because almost none of that is happening today, where everyone is fighting to talk, yet so little actual listening/processing is taking place. Information is pushed to people (via feeds), and they mostly just repeat and forward it, according to centralized agendas that are external to them.
We have incredibly advanced communication technologies today, that became widespread about 20-25 years ago, and have been hijacked by central powers to control people for their own interests. But those systems are starting to buckle under their own weight, and there are other ways to use that tech that have not been explored yet, anywhere near their potential. It's a much larger subject that can be further delved into, but it all falls under the heading of 'cultural enlightenment' I mentioned above.
This is how the United States operates. Almost every Politician acts to maximize the donations they get from the rich, no matter what is best for the population as a whole.
Corporations purpose should be as a cautionary tale of how not to construct your society.
Dan Harris what if i wanna construct my society to be shitty though
Just read a piece in which someone commented that lower level workers are often treated as livestock at best, vermin at worst.
Well, without corporations there is no:
Microsoft
Ford
Walmart
Dell
Google
PayPal
Amazon
Ring
Verizon
Do you want me to continue?
@@youtubesucks1499 Exactly. What an incredibly better world it would be without any of them. Your argument is flawed on so many levels that it cannot be addressed here with the contempt it deserves. Your brainwashing leads you to believe that the only way is the way you been programmed to believe. Such a limitation in thought is pernicious because you yourself are not even aware of it....it's mind poison and nothing less. Greed is no foundation for a civilization and if you think it is....I feel sorry for you.
You are NOT Dan Harris 😁
Corporations are a privilege, just like your drivers license, They need to be regulated, fined and disolved when theyt do bad.
Management/shareholders do. The corporation itself serves people and employs people. You don't want to just erase it because a shareholder is a shithead.
@@Furiends. Corporations only had 1 purpose... To limit liability..... A shield against being held liable for damages caused.
But. Mostly from those. Risk.... Previous rich Bob. Has got a sceam to make cask
But but needs more startup fund.... So he piched idea to weLth. Bob.... investment =$$
??
... IdeL failz.... Wealth bob think he was scamed and Idea never had Chance... Or it never solve a problem fo get.. Despite adding money to the.. May be the first time to get a new style in place... Blow up. Town destroyed
Ypur liable.. New idea who knew.... Town folk to. Sue. You must sell house to pay for your business disaster... LLC.. Limits creditors invest to the corporate assets.... But there is a cost ... 90% tax rate.. But.. Cash bob was hatrd.. With corporate names
taint... Dissolve corporate... Restarting under new name
... Cash bob can blow towm af and town.. Hide behind the llc
@@robkitchen5344 The single entity that is a body of people having legal property rights is where a corporation started. A prominent example was a trade guild.
The idea that incorporation (receiving a charter from the monarch) was usually to get specially permission to preform a task.
An entirely separate concept called partnerships was a legal concept that protected the financial interests of both parties. While companies were eventually chartered making them corporations. The main purpose of them was to perpetually own property.
In the age of Mercantilism a chartered company would seek special privileges for taking on such a high risk. That included both the concepts of limited liability over an investment and exclusivity over a territory (a monopoly).
Such a system sets up the Dutch East India Company. Note that these corporations profited mostly by stealing property, killing people and instituting slavery. That system is than the shadow of what would become capitalism.
The people need to do it by not buying anything from them not from government intervention
@@wingoreviewsboxingandmma3667 Thats not how the economy works especially in an age oligopolies. Indeed the only way to prevent oligopolies or monopoly is intervention. Any time two corporations want to merge the government must approve it. Thanks to our pro-corporate government they'll approve just about anything. But the whole point of this is because merges are always good for investors but are terrible for consumers and workers. A corporation is privilege bestowed by governments and thus we have every right to control how they function.
We should treat ALL corporations the way we did PRIOR to 1809! Charter them for a specific project. Then once that project is complete do one of two things
1) distribute the profits as needed and liquidate the corporation
or
2) distribute the profits of the now completed project and then offer another project for the same corporation to complete.
Repeat, rinse, etc ...
What about corporations that constantly improve products over centuries.
Robert Reich knows the drill. There is nothing wrong with the free market economy it's all about how we have failed to regulate.
Maybe not everything is a commodity or service right for the free market….
• Childcare?
• Eldercare?
• Education?
• Food safety?
• Air/Water/Soil Pollution?
• Fish/Wildlife/Environmental Protection?
People aren’t widgets or fast foods to be popped into circulation as quickly & cheaply & uniformly as possible en masse.
And what about the policies/laws that establish a free market system for family farms & small businesses yet provide robust corporate socialism for corporations?
Free market means free from regulation
Reich believes in communism
@@bidmcms3 In other words, "Free Market" is the problem.
I love this man, I don't think these kids appreciate how cool he is
How cool is it to want to go back to the 1950's??
@@newagain9964 what do you mean
We are better off accepting that corporations are not altruistic but rather out for the good of the shareholder no matter what damage that may cause. Therefore if our government is a true democracy it is the responsibility of the government to regulate an economy for the common good of both the shareholder and the employees. In reality a capitalistic economy unfettered by regulation will ultimately degenerate into monopoly and oligarchy. Then everybody loses.
I agree except that corporations are out for the good of top shareholders, not even all their shareholders.
A democratic political system is fundamentally incompatible and irreconcilable with a capitalist economic system. Capitalist entities do not operate according to democratic principles. Democratic political systems are always eventually corrupted by greed. The attempt to force the two systems to blend together is what's causing our current schizophrenic society with its characteristic inequality and instability.
if we lived in a true democracy then workers would have majority control of the corporation/of the economy.
@@newagain9964Exactly.
Real democracy is socialism. Universal voting rights, economy included, direct AND representative. Anything less democratic than that is a scam.
Capitalist "Democracies" are an unfunny joke. It's essentially like giving surfs the right to vote on politicians without abolishing feudalism.
Communism never ends well
Upto 1914 or so corporations were only allowed for public infrastructure programs. They were required to fold after completion of said projects.
We got along without for centuries, the legal rights of corporation being that of a legal person is one of their greatest strengths/weaknesses.
One of the prime causes of our American Revolution was against the East India Corporation pushing a monopoly on tea. One of the worlds first corporations.
@@mtn1793 "One of the prime causes of our American Revolution was against the East India Corporation"
Without such corporations there would never have been colonies and plantations to eventually become the United States.
@@thomasmaughan4798 Well, yes corporations were a big player. They weren’t the only player. And it was a corporate monopoly play on the tea that sparked the revolution. I’d agree that corporations do have there place. My retirement investment account for one. Probably yours as a second. But when they over play their hands to the extent we’re seeing lately everybody is put in danger including themselves.
Great american merger movement 1896-1904 was a period that used equity finance to consolidate competing firms into a legal version of the trust. The state incorporation laws had already been revised before this could happen. 1880s and 1890s , I believe New Jersey was most common state to issue charters for these new corporation mergers, but there were others as well. When New Jersey became more restrictive, other states loosened up and took the lead.
A lot of highly paid top executives created the recession of 2008 and while their companies were losing money they were getting richer and fatter .
That's a lie the recession was created in large part because of Reich's policies as democrats leaned heavy on banks to make loans to poor neighborhoods when they defaulted in large numbers a bad recession happened general motors heavily union ized was forced to pay such high wages and benefits they had to be baled out notice ford took no taxpayer loans difference is they had no unions
Martin Luther King described the employer as a two headed beast, that needed workers, but didn't want to have to pay them. I remember profit sharing and paid health insurance.
Right. The eventual conclusion of unfettered Capitalism is one guy with everything band everyone else, slaves.
If employees share in the profits they should share in the losses
Employees should be given the right to protect themselves by firing the boss.
Co-ops are the future if workers want living wages, security, and a stake in how their workplace is run.
Agreed.
Then employees would bankrupt businesses
@@fritzforsthoefel8031how so? And u seem to forget about all the bosses that have sunk thousands of companies. 🥱
Businesses do fail no question about that
Love his talks, he breaks everything down in under stable ways. I just don’t know if there is anything we can do to fix the state of North America. Voting hasn’t worked in the US or Canada. I quit being a registered nurse because I couldn’t take the financial, phycological and physical abuse anymore. There’s been a huge North American walk out not just me. If you work, you should be able to support yourself no matter the job. In France I believe Mc Donald’s pays $22.00 an hour with a union. Here in Windsor, Ontario Canada they are starting you at $12.36 an hour still! This is bullshit. My mom worked as a waitress in the seventies and she had a home with a mortgage and a new vehicle with adequate food on the table. This is impossible now. Shit has just got worse and worse since the 1980’s.
In china when it was ruled by mao narrowed the wage gap between skilled labor and unskilled workers took rich people's wealth and gave it to the masses all work was considered equal result millions starved now in china low skilled workers make low wages and there are billionaires result china has one of the fastest growing economies in the world Reich is a communist and it's democrats who are destroying us with communist economic policies
i am holding a vision for a great transformation to take place in our nation and of the whole world, one step at a time , with the assistance of the individuals speaking the truth for the great change to take place. Mr. Reich, you are an inspiration to many. More power to what you do. I appreciate you.
Eliminate the laws that allowed this situation to exist. Before, corporations were limited and their mandate was clearly expressed ie. for the Public Good, etc. Corrupt politics, the wholesale of the SCOTUS cleared a pathway for corporations to takeover and basically make their own laws in direct opposition to the Public Good they were once established.
I finsished writing this at before the 10 minute mark (just in case you are wondering) I am not highly educated, but I am aware and informed. I wish I had this level of awareness at 20 that I now have at 42. Perhaps a solution is to introduce courses that elevate a student`s Social Awareness so they are more prepared when a person of elevated staus bombards them with Social Fallacies, such as Our Great Devil`s Advocate did!!
Ok, let’s just push the button and do that real quick n easy
Yes, Robert is pretty darn great!
What isn't great is that not enough Americans--especially young Americans should be watching and learning from Robert!!
Dumbing down in public schools is working and that only means we ALL ARE GETTING SCREWED.
A question I did not hear: "What is the PR backlash that can be expected from this decision? How can we avoid negative backlash from this round of firings?"
Geeves The answer “Get out of here with that bullshit, I’m watching Game of Thrones...”
We're lobbying politicians to direct tax funds to education and labor initiatives. By shifting responsibility on to individuals, cultural trends will favor our outlook.
What backlash ...there is none and there will be none....The Conservative portion of the public loves to hear this stuff as gospel....Tons of poor conservatives will tell you that this is the cornerstone of Democracy and even in The Constitution...Even that it is Christian doctrine...
Being old enough to have experienced and worked in the pre 80s economy I preferred it. The country and economy as a whole did much better.
There is a reason why people in chile have been protesting on the streets of Santiago the past two weeks. Limitless abuse by corporate
Amazing video, wish I could take one of your courses.
Robert Reich is a great man! And vastly under-appreciated.
Robert Reich is the antithesis of Dennis Prager.
bill sny So basically a intelligent moral person
I would like to see Prager vs Reich. I've been watching both of their videos and to be honest, most of PragerU's videos is conservative at best, and nationalist at worst. But that is what all conservatives are leaning towards to nowadays do they? And I used to think that the conservatives of today were the liberals of yesterday. I was so wrong.
@Andrea Mendenhall Professor Reich is an Economist, a good economist who debunk the glorified shitty Trickled-Down economic theory that made US Economy even worst.
@Andrea Mendenhall thats why i like him cause his a socialist.
@@giojacycadalzo752 Most conservatives are old. They worked on one job, had high wage and low price and overall high purchase power, adjusted for inflation. They are now retired and are not connected to the workforce. That's why they are ignorant about today's economy. Proper knowledge can get them out of propaganda shithole.
Robert Reich's channel might be the most important media outlet out there for stopping the coming downfall of America. Keep up the great work. We need more actual patriots paying attention.
great lecture, thank you Mr Reich for educating the people.
I plan to roll this presentation and others into my W 2019 Intermediate Micro course. En route to my doctorate in Economics, I earned an MBA along with an MA in Economics. The knowledge gained about Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, and other sub-fields have proven very valuable to me over the decades. However, not in the same way as for most business majors. Thank you.
Robert, excellent presentation. You make us old timers miss our enlightened college years.
This is what should be on the news!
What I do remember about the 50s and 60s is that our economy was booming back then and anyone that wanted a job had no trouble finding and holding a position. Most households had only one breadwinner in the family and that typically was the father. Most mothers stayed home and raised the kids and took care of the home. Most families were able to send their kids to college and the cost was not prohibitive like it is today. Life was good for many Americans.
nice dog whistling.
Robert Reich for President!
He is not only a bright, shining light, but has excellent presentation and communication skills. He could win in a Presidential race.
Wow!!! Amazing work by Robert Reich!!!Why isn’t he serving (again) as a government official? We need him now more than ever.
After seeing Hack Saw Bob’s plan I now understand why George Washington didn’t like corporations.
Profits trumps all. That is where all the problem in our society; inequity, recession, and crime, disintegrated of family etc. R. R. is a genius. Thank you!
I think the best part about this is his deep understanding of the opposing ideology.
It just shows he truly does care to learn and understand about what’s best for the people. So many others will just straw man the opponent
Probably my favorite video I've seen on this channel so far. The question is, how do we get there? How do we structure the laws and regulations so that what would then be in the corporation best interest is also in the best interest of society?
It seems that half a century or more ago, the board of directors played the long game with their companies because they looked forward to living comfortably in their retirement with the dividends from the shares they would hold onto for life. So they made careful decisions to ensure the company was successful over the long term.
But today, the board is myopic in their approach because they get their wealth from how much they can increase the share price in a few years. They have an exit strategy that's 5 years down the road and they really don't care what happens after that.
Briliant lecture! Extremely clear and logical! Congratulations! Greetings from an old man (social democrat) in Norway! 🇳🇴
Under performing Exes get fired, they get a golden parachute. A reward for failure
“Exes”? That has never been and is not now an abbreviation for “executive”.
I love how this is such a slap in the face to McKinsey regarding what he said about consultants.
I love this role play in a lecture. This is a great way to educate people. I wish more professors do thia kind of teaching style. Thank You Dr. Robert Reich for doing this style of teaching.
This just reinforces my faith in the youth of this country. These students will one day be the actual board of a company. With their empathy the employees will be treated fairly. They will find a way!!!
Today is the first time hearing Robert in such a setting, found it both intriguing and thought-provoking. Not to show my ignorance, but that presentation taught me more than I ever knew about corporations and the laws that pertain to them.
Nice idea to have the interactive audience, taking notes on presentation. Data + Courage = Change
Remarkably clear and succinct portrayal of the greed that is protected by law. The compassion and morality of our great experiment is nearly gone. I am proud of this enormous classroom of hopefuls. I sincerely hope they do better than the generation of which I am one, did.
Run for President, Bob!
If you have a company and you don’t want to worry about share holders. Don’t take your company public.
This is why some conservatives turn liberal after college.
They finally understand the BIG PICTURE.
And then the uneducated conservatives decry collage as brain washing or "elites" because the realities that students are exposed to don't align with what they think they want to hear.
You do realize this guy was the secretary OF LABOR under Bill Clinton don't you? I would say he has a pretty good grasp of economic principles and I would consider him significantly more qualified to lecture on said topic than some Anonymous internet poster that takes offense when the system is questioned. But that's why our country is in the mess it's in. Our system is broken and it is systemically corrupt FROM THE MONEY THAT IT'S SWIMMING IN and there's too many stubborn, close minded people that would rather toe the line than question anything. Sad.
Frederic Bastiat the student is gonna end up with more money to invest than you do in the end we all win! except you
I hope to God they dont turn out to be liberals. Liberalism is the problem. We need socialism
@Frederic - You are naive if you think the "masses" as you call them aren't affected by propaganda - on both sides. You see, the left and right are so busy fighting over their parties "ideals" that most people have forgotten that BOTH SIDES are owned by corporate interests who legally bribe them. You think your representatives represent you, you're not paying attention. They make a bunch of promises to their constituents that never seem to materialize BECAUSE IT'S NOT IN THE CORPORATIONS BEST INTEREST to do so. So no, you're wrong. Our current government is not elected by the masses, they're elected by the millions of advertisement dollars invested by a handful of people at the top to manipulate the masses. Most people (aside from hopelessly brainwashed conservatives) are waking up to that concept. Also, what do you mean Reich had to fit there? That doesn't make any sense. He was appointed by Bill Clinton and if memory serves me, Bill Clinton presided over one of the best economic expansions in decades at the time, ending his presidency with a surplus of money. Bill was a Democrat (as is Reich) and it just so happens that the Democrats have a more pragmatic approach to economic policy than the Republicans do - It might have to do with the fact that they actually care about the welfare of the little people and aren't 100% corrupted by the system like the Republicans are.
Teaching Americas change makers. Love it! Let’s hope Corporate decides to be a part of America instead of sucking us dry. If we help each other everyone wins, not just the 1%.
The question is "how" do we change the laws and regulations when the politicians who should change the laws are owned by the corporations? A change needs to be made in how funds are raised for political campaigns. Once corporations can no longer buy politicians on the slave block politicians should be free to make meaningful changes in the laws.
Why we haven't moved towards more public benefits corporations instead of simply either "for profit" or "non profit" corporations is on account of greed from the top down. The rot at the top has infested our entire economy.
People who work at a public benefits corporation make good money for themselves not for an invisible class of passive investors. They provide products and services that benefit the communities in which they operate. That's a win-win without the downside pressures to satisfy the investor class at all costs.
One could argue effectively that a little bit of baked in inefficiency in business management is actually a good thing. In a "for profit" paradigm, society as a whole suffers from the zeal to maximize profits for shareholders at all costs. It suffers from the constant stream of strategies that are employed with vigor. The churn itself causes society harm. People's lives are upended. No one wants to start over at a new career or job at age fifty. Moreover, many companies actively practice age discrimination in not hiring older more experienced workers because they can command a higher wage for their experience. And even if their HR departments don't practice age discrimination, often times they contract with a software company that employs an algorithm that does.
So starting over at fifty is harder for both personal and political reasons. Having said that, I'm fifty-three and disabled yet I own and operate my own company as a sole proprietorship.
I have never held any job or career longer than five years except for operating my own business which I have been doing for the past twenty years in addition to working for someone else at various companies.
In 2010 I was working a total of 90 hours per week between my business and my "day job" du jour.
I currently serve on the Board of Directors at our church (in addition to operating my business). I'm in my sixth year on the board. I am term limited come this November and I'm looking forward to it!
To be sure, there are a handful of corporations that are organized as a Public Benefits Corporation but there needs to be many more to combat this investor class offal that is weighting down our economy.
If the current paradigm isn't working for everyone, then it's time to change the paradigm!
Notice the students sitting in the aisles. Obviously Mr Reichs classes are very popular! I wish he would run for President! He’s way smarter than any of the Presidents we’ve had in my lifetime,including the current one.
I’m 81 and George Romney was head of American Motors. He said that the company including employees are first, than the town and lastly the shareholders. He was the father of Mitt Romney.
Firing people for the sake of increasing shareholders' return has been going on for quite some time now. Corporations don't care about the well-being of their employees. This has led and you've read some of them on newspapers and has been on the news of some violence on the workplace. This trend could potentially get worse if laws are not passed to change the behavior of Corporate CEO's and its Board of Directors.
This! This is why I work for a Non-Profit. Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. Also, there is ZERO shortage of people who need our services. Only PP San Francisco is bigger than us. And I love PPFS! But a Non-Profit never needs to think about the things that Robert speaks of. Well maybe PBS does.
B Corp !!! We need to support them and start the conversation on the alternative to this corporate madness!
Watching this after being indefinitely "on hold" working for a GM subsidiary...
I say we get rid of Hacksaw Bob and replace him with someone who can balance corporate responsibility with profits.
DerekSpeare I worked for a company who did community services but treated their employees like shit.
DerekSpeare what? does that even mean?
Tje German model... worker on board.... Workers don't sell out... *instead of CEO - workers wage gag 360 - 1 ... 30-1diffference in German modle
Can't do that unless you control the most shares of a company. Really the people should create their own organization and disallow others from trying to raid it but that requires privatization.
@@webbtherapy I worked for a corporation that made lots of money but drove humanity into extinction.
I am now an old man, I fought this battle in several Hi Tec companies and lost every time. Always maximize profits outsource the manufacturing, make the quarterly numbers, get the product out the door
What appears the function of corporations? Start with being imaginative, use creative thinking. Form a group of 3-5 people. Share all skills, talents, experience. Determine the goal of the business to the benefit of humanity. I promoted it to unknown students I met in Boulder, CO. They had bo idea what to do after graduating. They used this simple concept and built their own small business. Trust, respect, teamwork, communication prevailed when the younger generation pushed the hype aside.
The principal reason for corporations is limited liability so shareholders can only lose money they put in. They cant lose their personal assets.
The Republican love this model of Profits Over People.
Hulk Hulk so did I, when I had a lemonade stand. Do you really think that only those republicans work this way. Trump use to be a democrat.
@@meeksde what fuckin kind of lemonade stand did you have that employed people so cuthroatly? lmfao
If you mean Republican voters, then you are simply wrong. There are conservative cases that one can make against the current system. Spit out the pills that mainstream media has given you that convince you that conservatives are just dumb, immoral, and irredeemable, sharing no common ground with your superior political position.Your mischaracterization is not helpful to the cause, but I bet it makes you feel good.
Also -- I assume you are inclined to agree with Zellerbach's view over Ichan's -- keep in mind that Zellerbach worked for a Republican administration during the time of this quote.
And yet Dems have done nothing about the current model either ......
Compensating employees better is great as a general idea. But what is the most effective way to do that? Encouraging more employee ownership?
yeah, with employee ownership I've seen people take cuts when the economy is bad, instead of getting fired.
Even better, tax the wealthy owners and offer the controlling shares to the workers across all industries.🌍🌎
Your last remark is eye opening. This would really improve companies social responsibility. The rising generation has work to do on this if they really want shareholder capitalism. I wish I could become one of your students someday.
there is no such thing as ethical capitalism.
Robert Reich for president!
You want yet ANOTHER old White male? 😁
@@thesoundsmith
Not necessarily. I want someone reluctant to take the position and qualified to act on the economy to benefit the people, not corporate interests. I don't care about their sex, gender, race, or religious views.
The weakness of the new view of a corporation's purpose is shown by paradigms like the Tragedy Of The Commons, or The NIMBY Problem. These demonstrate that in a perfectly free unregulated market economy, the short term benefits are favored over long-term, more far-flung benefits, and the system moves toward ultimate failure. It has been observed that one reason the Japanese cars are so much better than American cars is that the American companies plan for the short term - next quarter, next year, or whatever. But the Japanese managers plan for many years, decades in advance. Americans treat it as a sprint, and they need to think of it as a marathon. And what is good for a company may be bad for the economy in which that company is embedded, so there must be some pressure to make them all contribute something to benefit the economy.
Four y.e.a.r.s. ago and the points professor Reich is making are still relevant thanks to the filibuster and mcc.o.n.nell.
Robert Reich gets it. I know this lecture was given years ago but!! I worked in corporate America my whole life. I am 68 years old. He is right. Shareholder capitalism is like a plaque of insects that destroy corps. (my opinion.) Shareholder capitalism seeks to look for areas where there is poverty and weak environmental laws. These companies seek to exploit poverty and rape the environment. The company I worked for called these countries "low cost countries." Yes we may be all dead in the long run, but it is the journey to dead. It is better to leave behind a company that provides prosperity of all stake holders. Companies should learn to innovate. Anyone can be a slash and burn executive. In Mr. Reich's role play he says he must retain top talent. Apparently the executives of the widget company are not top talent and should go first. If people believe socialism is redistribution of wealth, would shareholder capitalism be socialism? The reason I say that is this mythical widget company fires people, and takes the savings and redistributes the wealth to shareholders and executives.
Just a thought.
You are right. That is exactly what they do all the time ...
At a flick of a light, we all should vote against corporate policies. It is a no-brainer. Gosh!
How can you not love this Guy. Even if you don’t always agree.
The purpose of corporations is to enrich executives and the BOD, destroy the environment, employ labor at the lowest wage possible, prevent personal legal liability, and make shareholders (particularly institutional ones) wealthy.
What’s not to like?!
Telss makes electric cars Biden says are needed to protect our environment and average employee wages over one hundred thousand dollars
What an awesome class of students. Very few ppl wanted to raise their hand and say intelligent things when I was in college
We need to abolish the Stock Market. No more shareholders to pay, no more billionaires, no more financial speculators, the corps work for their employees only.
If people are not being paid the profits disappear because they are unaffordable to purchase said products. The best solution might be affordable education for in demand employment.
The fact that he got more of them to vote for Hacksaw’s plan by answering all their questions just blows my mind. Yes, we’re all just cogs in a wheel like most CEOs think of workers but nobody wants to be treated like a cog in the wheel. And it’s not just publicly traded companies where Hacksaw’s plan happens. I worked for a private “not for profit” (meaning excess profits went to charities) and it still happened under a new CEO we got in 2007. The new CEO slashed every benefit we had and the company was driven into the ground and nearly failed, all while the executives raked in millions. Knowing how bad it was at a private “not for profit”, I can only imagine how much worse it would be at a publicly traded company.
The problem; it’s a short term solution. These moves do not position you for long term growth. The first move of most corporations when they don’t hit profit targets is to cut labor costs, when the approach during down periods should be to cross train the labor force to better position themselves when the business climate improves.
This seminar really goes to the core of the problem
A for-profit corporation is created by a person who wants to make a profit. If corporations can no longer be used for that purpose, then such people will find some other legal instrument that suits their purpose, or just give up on their ambitions if no such instrument exists.
If the corporation does something illegal the board and management need to spend some time in jail.
Don McKechnie
But not the shareholders*
- seems fair
I worked for a company just like that.They promised if we work harder that we would get profit sharing.We worked very hard all year long only to be told by the plant manager in two sentences,no profit sharing.Then the man walked back to his office.All throughout the year,we constantly heard,we got to maximize profits for the share holders and they would share with us.its nonsense.
I would very much like to see you do a video: What Should Be The Purpose of Government. thank you.
I love that this is in my recommended intertwined with several compilations of Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec.
Just read Matt Taibbis book Griftopia. Would love to see you interview him. By the way there is nothing wrong with getting ahead with good old fashioned savings. Sadly banks don’t have a healthy track record handling other peoples money.
Wow Robert! I SO wish I had you as a Professor when I was at UCBerkeley
You were at UC Berkeley ? Wow ! What did you study there ??
The smart thing is that the stock holders be happy that your company is a slow steady earner. Because in the long run, that is where the smart investment is.
reich is gifted at imparting the broader perspective with empathy for any (more limited) perspetives.
I admire Professor Robert Reich laid-back approach on such delicate matters, specially knowing that you have been through a lot to acquire such a vintage view.
The purpose of corporations is arguable, but in my opinion, corporations have contracts to produce products and services, and such contracts are financed by banks (essentially). Corporations produce the goods and services we need, in a somehow competitive environment. They call themselves the real world vs the state and the government that regulate and provide products and services that can not be produced and delivered in a competitive manner. There is an argument going on on the optimal size of one relative to the other. Right now the Republicans purport to personify the real world while the Democrats are the irresponsible generous state, but one needs the other, or else we will all be thrown in the Dark Age, and there is no coming back!
It is a shame what the Republicans and the Democrats are doing, blackmailing each other, possibly to brinkmanship and shutdown, or worse, to complicity! Leaving us all behind!
Now, on the immigration chapter, after healthcare, and taxation, is the turn for the Republicans, putting forward their most cynical, and shaming, proposition, for a problem that is not a problem, because people immigrated because they were allowed to and it was convenient on both sides, why shaming people now, like in a class society!? That is so unconstitutional! It is not this that USA stood against since its inception!? (ua-cam.com/video/TZYLGlUv1lk/v-deo.html)
Here (www.c-span.org/video/?429899-1/treasury-secretary-government-shutdown-primary-objective&transcriptQuery=mnuchin&start=5356) Senator David Perdue, that claims himself from the real world, talks about debt and the size of debt, and the possibility of exploring the ultra long bond market, with Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. France, for example is already doing it, to stabilize the social security, and provide a basic income to its people, and fund social programs, and also has, to some extent, a NHS (National Health System). It looks like the Republicans want to tap the bond market to its limit to fund only the military and leave anyone else behind, even knowing that the military contractors are only a fraction of the real world, and the military a component of the state and the government.
So being, in this process, the system rigged in favor of corporations, because corporations fund campaigns and political parties, to serve their own gains. Are not corporations exceeding their own incorporation purpose, and violating the law!? While the country flounders in a leadership crisis that will in the end eventually hurt the whole nation and the world!?
This is what Germany does. Under their laws the board of directors of German chartered companies have to be composed of 50% worker reprentsentives. This makes German companies stakeholder type companies. German companies exist for the benefit of Germany.
I love this guy. He is for the common working man.
The moral of workers is of no consequence when a company makes changes. The workers quit and we hire new ones at lower rates. There, the company just saved a ton of money for the ceo and shareholders. Yup, that's the conversation I imagine these companies have
I got laid off from a job in a small customer service department of a motel chain's corporate office. This was during the oil crisis back in the '80s. This department was reduced from five employees to four to save money for the company. But this motel chain had (still has) motels across the country (it's a large chain). Each motel is managed by a couple and the idea was to let them handle problems at the motel level. (Sounds like the government right?) Each motel was given a budget and money from corporate and expected to use it not only for motel management but for guest satisfaction. The money spent came out of the couple's profits.
A consultant firm was hired by corporate to increase profits and about 100 corporate employees got laid off. But like a central government, corporate was there to manage the managers, track costs as well as profits, and keep guest loyalty in an atmosphere of intense competition.
As it turned out, by reducing the corporate guest services center, the individual motel management took the hit when things went wrong. If there was a problem at one motel, all motels in this chain were affected through guest dissatisfaction. By centralizing recovery of guests through perks and free nights' stays, etc., it took the pressure off individual motel management. And if the guest wasn't happy with the outcome from corporate, the management still had the ability to recover the guest's satisfaction locally (and blame corporate ). Reducing staff to provide this service ended up backfiring. Oh, profits increased for a while ... but not for long.
As for me, I found a better job ... just as predicted. HAHA! Plus, I got a huge severance package, resume service, and help finding another job.
PS, that argument about keeping the best execs by paying them really well regardless of the need to maximize profits is something I've heard several times before! This excuse must be in a memo somewhere. HAHA!
If this corporation is in the Economy of Wants, then the owners of the corporation make the decisions. I think profit-maximization is just one of the goals that these firms have. Others include market share and participation in the new global marketplace.
My question is what makes those who voted for A think they are the board and not the labors?
This is why I follow mr Reich on Twitter,love this guy
This is brilliant.
my brother-in-law was a vice president of Crock Corp (Macdonald's). He talked just like this... only added that they were providing an important public service, providing jobs for unskilled workers and 'cheap healthy' food all over the world. Yes, he said healthy... and believed it. The company nutritionists told him it was healthy ..vitamins in there. They got rid of him as a too highly paid exec, as soon as they could (about 50 yrs old). cheaper to put younger ones in the position.
so far the best video by Mr. Reich. truth as to what goes on in most companies. gave a balanced view but hasn't changed my mind on capitalism. the marketplace will dictate your value as an employee and the value of the company. you need good workers to maximize profits. good workers expect certain compensation to stick around. if there's a problem, it's that some people don't have marketable and transferrable skills so their value in the marketplace is pretty low. my advice is don't be that person.