Big companies are reliant on institutional investors on a punishing schedule which leads to ruthless behaviour. This form of capitalism with this structure and incentives will never deliver sustainability.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the dependence of large companies on institutional investors, suggesting it promotes unsustainable practices.
Tim Jackson's quote addresses the conflict within capitalism where big companies often prioritize short-term gains to satisfy institutional investors. This relentless pursuit of profit leads to behaviors that are detrimental to long-term sustainability, indicating a flawed system incentivized by immediate financial returns rather than ethical or sustainable practices.
In practice
In a corporate strategy meeting discussing sustainability initiatives.
China's government has far more control over the country's economy than our government has over ours, and it is moving from export dependence to a model of growth driven by domestic demand. Any restriction on exports to the U.S. would simply accelerate a process already underway.
No government can give a selective advantage to a specific company, because that would make competition unfair.
Economic growth is very important, but it is not the only thing, and it must be accompanied by sharing with those who are left behind, through effective social services and provision.
Private fortunes, in the present state of our circulation, are at the mercy of those self-created money lenders, and are prostrated by the floods of nominal money with which their avarice deluges us.
Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually.
Global capital markets pose the same kinds of problems that jet planes do. They are faster, more comfortable, and they get you where you are going better. But the crashes are much more spectacular.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.