Defining terms: “Stakeholder capitalism”

 

The Editorial Board at Issues & Insights weighed in on the recently concluded World Economic Forum in Davos.  The title of the editorial, “The Devils of Davos,” is not hyperbole.  Here’s Klaus Schwab’s shameless statement and a blogger response: 

• “When it comes to business and economic activities, Davos is not a place for narrow self-interest,” WEF chairman and founder Klaus Schwab said. “It is instead a place for the implementation of the notion of stakeholder capitalism, a concept I’m fighting for since 50 years.”

“‘Stakeholder capitalism’ is an oxymoron, and it is a synonym for fascism,” writes ‘Streetwise Professor’. 

“‘Stakeholder capitalism’ has no limiting principle. It can be used to claim control over anything anywhere anytime … It is a synonym for fascism because it is a variant on corporatism, which is the essence of the fascist economic model.”

More interesting quotes and comments at Issues & Insights are here. And “Streetwise Professor” further elaborates:

'Stakeholder capitalism’ is an oxymoron, because capitalism means that the owners of capital make the decisions on how it is used. Marxists have never liked the way that capitalists used it, which is why they wanted to expropriate it. At least they were honest, and didn’t say they were advocating “socialized capitalism.” “Stakeholder capitalism” means that those who don’t own something can nonetheless dictate how to use it, because they have some self-asserted “stake” in it. Using the word “capitalism” is a clever trick to seduce non-Marxists into believing that what Schwab et al are advocating is just a kinder, gentler version of a free market economy, when in fact their agenda is profoundly anti-capitalism and anti-freedom.

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