Over at the Washington Post, Christine Emba confuses what can charitably be called a command economy (or socialism) with capitalism. It’s about as honest as Warren claiming she’s part Indian
Elizabeth Warren isn’t out to get capitalism. She’s out to save it.
Elizabeth Warren loves capitalism. But she loves duty, too.
The Democratic senior senator from Massachusetts rolled out her Accountable Capitalism Act in mid-August, though it was quickly overtaken by much less high-minded news — who knew Omarosa’s return could be so all-consuming? So far, most of the discussion around the bill has nitpicked its particular policy proposals. Could German governance practices work in the United States? Does the Commerce Department really need more responsibilities? How would this bill do in the Senate? (Answer: badly, considering the current Republican majority.)
All good and important questions. But what’s more interesting is the moral vision behind the bill. In an America where individual choice is sacrosanct, Warren wants to bring back obligation. Her bill is clearly meant to draw our minds (and our corporations) back to the duties we owe to one another — and to how we fail to live up to them.
But first, the specifics. The heart of the Accountable Capitalism Act is a requirement that companies with more than $1 billion in revenue obtain a corporate charter at the federal level, rather than basing themselves in the most loosely regulated state they can find. (Sorry, Delaware.)
This new charter is meant to address an epidemic of bad corporate behavior, especially the tendency of top executives to value profits over wider well-being. It would obligate executives to consider the interests of all corporate stakeholders — including employees, customers and communities — not just shareholders. It would require that at least 40 percent of company board members be elected by employees, an idea known as co-determination. The bill also contains provisions curbing stock buybacks, which tend to benefit only shareholders, and unilateral political expenditures.
So, her view of capitalism is that it must be saved by putting the federal government in charge of private entities?
Let’s flip over to an Atlantic article from a few days ago
Elizabeth Warren’s Theory of Capitalism
A conversation with the Democratic senator about why she’s doubling down on market competition at a moment when her party is flirting with socialism
And over to the Free Beacon
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) defensively declared herself a capitalist in an interview published Tuesday, saying markets are “what make us rich” as long as they’re “fair.”
What Fauxahontas is doing is faking her position as a capitalist to separate herself from her unhinged Socialist buddies in the Democratic Party. She may, in fact, not want full on Socialism, but what she does want is the federal government in control of economic activity to the max.
Warren’s “accountable capitalism,†in contrast, takes a much more hands-on approach to ensuring good behavior, and in the process makes important assertions about our individual moral tendencies. Its insistence on forced integration of corporate boards points to a firm belief that many, if not most, business leaders act selfishly simply because they can, and that they need to be forcibly curbed. And it posits that state intervention, not just suggestion, is the way to do it.
A garbage dump by any other name would smell just as bad.
