Capitalists Arise!

End Economic Inequality, Grow the Middle Class, Heal the Nation

By: Peter Georgescu, David Dorsey

Narrated by: Wes Bleed

Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Peter Georgescu arrived in this country as a penniless Romanian refugee and rose to become the CEO of Young & Rubicam. Which is why he's so heartsick that in America today, with flat wages, disappearing jobs, and a shrinking middle class, his kind of rags-to-riches story doesn't seem possible now. But he has a message for his fellow CEOs: we're the ones who must take the lead in fixing the economy.

Marshaling deeply sobering statistics, Georgescu depicts the stark reality of America today: a nation with greater wealth inequality and lower social mobility than just about any other country in the developed world. But the problem isn't that free-market capitalism no longer works - it's that it's been hijacked by shareholder primacy. Where once our business leaders looked to the needs and interests of a variety of stakeholders - employees, community members, the business itself - now they're myopically focused on maximizing their shareholders' returns and nothing else.

Capitalists Arise! shows how the short-term thinking spawned by shareholder primacy lies at the root of our current economic malaise and social breakdown. But Georgescu offers concrete actions that capitalists themselves can take to create a better future - pay a fair wage, build up the business instead of just the stock price, and more. The irony is that if businesses do this, shareholders will do even better. In the long run, businesses can thrive only when society is healthy and strong. This book is a manifesto calling on capitalists to heal the national that has given them so much.

©2017 Peter Georgescu (P)2017 Peter Georgescu

Critic reviews

"A clear-eyed assessment about the drivers of key national challenges like income inequality and shrinking economic opportunity. Georgescu offers a number of thoughtful prescriptions for change." (Roger W. Ferguson, President and CEO, TIAA; former Vice Chairman, US Federal Reserve System; and Chairman, Conference Board)

Capitalism Has Changed!

Here's the key takeaway from this book: 60% of Americans add debt every month in order to get buy. These people are losing their ability to continue purchasing, which means that consumption (the main driver of our economy) is getting close to a point of collapse. If you look at stock prices, you would think that America is doing great. But that's because 54% of corporate profits go towards buying back stock to push up the price. Another big chunk goes to dividends. Neither of those two things makes a company stronger. Only investing in R&D, employees, and capital expenditures make a company stronger.

The next big crash is going to be the biggest we have ever seen and there will be little the government can do to save us. During the last crash, the government propped up the stock market with $2.4 trillion dollars in quantitative easing. That's like taking a shot of whiskey to cure your hangover. It works, but only in the short-term, and it only makes the eventual headache much worse. This book is a wake-up call for American capitalism.

Real Ideas for Change

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

It's easy to identify problems in society, but it's a lot harder to propose a solution. It's even harder to propose a solution in a way that includes realistic steps that can be taken, deep strategies that will actually lead to results, with a path that has clarity and simplicity. This book accomplishes that. It's refreshing and inspiring as it gives hope for the future in relationship to a problem that seems overwhelmingly complex.