When More Is Not Better: Overcoming America’s Obsession with Economic Efficiency
Roger L. Martin
Harvard Business Review Press (September 2020)

Democratic capitalism is not — or at least should not be — an oxymoron

Long before the Declaration of Independence, most adult residents of the thirteen colonies were convinced that democracy (albeit with a monarchy as well as two houses of repesentation) and capitalism were not mutually exclusive; rather, they were interdependent. When in proper balance, tgehy strengthened each other.

To learn what “regular Americans” now think, Roger Martin and his associates became involved with the Martin Prosperity Institute’s six-year research study. In this book, he shares what they learned.  He shares what adult residents of the current United States now think. “We interviewed and listened to each subject for hours, to learn how people were experiencing economic life across America, across many regular American occupations. Our agenda was to listen to our subjects’ thoughts and gauge their emotions. We called it the Persona Project, and we came away from it with two clear findings.”

1. People did not feel that the economy worked for them.

According to Martin, since 1976, “the growth in median income fell to an anemic 0.6 percent per year, meaning that the median family was only 31 percent better off after forty-two years — less than one-third the progress in almost 50 percent more time. That is, medium income rose by 100 percent in twenty-nine years and then by only 31 percent in the subsequent forty-two years.”

2. People were decisively disengaged from politics.

With regard to the second point, it is worth noting that — since the national elections in 1960 with only one exception in 2008 —  fewer than half of those eligible to register in fact registered and less than half of those registered in fact voted. Disengagement from the political process is not a recent development.

In this book, Martin defines two separate but related crises, explains how each developed, and then suggests how both can be resolved. In my opinion, the relatively small number of primary sources interviewed — “regular Americans” across many regular American occupations — does not diminish the relevance and significance of what they think and feel.  Given the wide and deep impact of COVID 19, my guess that most people are much worse off — or at best, no better — now in terms of their standard of living and quality of life.

So, at the risk of oversimplification, here’s my take on Roger Martin’s concluding thoughts:

o American democratic capitalism is now headed for “an ugly fall” unless

o With the votes they cast, Americans collectively “abandon the machine model of efficiency along with the accompanying, obsessive pursuit of efficiency.”

o In that event, with that rejection, American democratic capitalism can yet have “a bright future.”

o Will it be perfect? No, of course not. Will it always be a work in progress? Yes. “But collectively, we can restore balance [between efficiency and resilience] if we just get started, stay reflective, and tweak relentlessly.

o “And because the outcomes in a complex adaptive system aren’t linear, incremental and predictable, we will have no idea just how good a future American democratic capitalism could have. America’s next chapter could be the greatest in its history.”

Thus far, perhaps, but only if….