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October 10, 2006
Here's A Thoughtful, and Pertinent Article in Today's Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal's timing couldn't have been better. Today they published "Dynamic Capitalism" a featured article by Edmund Phelps, recent winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. The subtitle of his article is "Entrepreneurship is lucrative --- and just." Two key graphs:
"The issues swirling around capitalism today concern the consequences of its dynamism. The main benefit of an innovative economy is commonly said to be a higher level of productivity--and thus higher hourly wages and a higher quality of life. There is a huge element of truth in this belief, no matter how many tens of qualifications might be in order. Much of the huge rise of productivity since the 1920s can be traced to new commercial products and business methods developed and launched in the U.S. and kindred economies. (These include household appliances, sound movies, frozen food, pasteurized orange juice, television, semiconductor chips, the Internet browser, the redesign of cinemas and recent retailing methods.) There were often engineering tasks along the way, yet business entrepreneurs were the drivers."
and
"I would, however, stress a benefit of dynamism that I believe to be far more important. Instituting a high level of dynamism, so that the economy is fired by the new ideas of entrepreneurs, serves to transform the workplace--in the firms developing an innovation and also in the firms dealing with the innovations. The challenges that arise in developing a new idea and in gaining its acceptance in the marketplace provide the workforce with high levels of mental stimulation, problem-solving, employee-engagement and, thus, personal growth. Note that an individual working alone cannot easily create the continual arrival of new challenges. It "takes a village," preferably the whole society." source
Well worth reading the whole thing.
Of course YouTube's Hurley and Chen didn't need the article, they just did it. Meeting with Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt over a meal at a Denny's restaurant. Maybe I should try the Grand Slam next time?
Posted by DavidK at October 10, 2006 09:14 AM | Permalink