I would bet that just down the hall from Dr Reich's office there is an MBA class going on which emphasizes success in terms of profits and that decisions should be made that maximize current profits. The results of that class are the decisions that are made within the company on a day to day basis.
The CEO has little to say about it. If he tries to buck the trend, the stockholders and board will send him packing. Because their income is dependent on the current profits. Doesn't mean anything to them if there'll be a long term decline in the company -- they will have pulled their investments long before the collapse. As far as the day-to-day decisions, there is little chance that he would have any say (or even knowlege) when a mid-level manager decides on a supplier from an outsourcer. Hel, that manager might not even know.
It's the common folk who will lose a livelihood and stare at an empty husk of the place that nurtured their town. It is the common folk who will suffer thru stagnant wages and staff cuts.
And all of our rules for operation insist that this is the preferred method. In order to change the result we need to change the culture. An example is what happened when Obama sought to correct the jobs situation and turn the economy around. Why would he look to Immelt? He was very successful at increasing profits, not increasing employment. Why did Obama look to Geithner to fix the economic culture? He was knee deep in that culture. Even after seeing the collapse of an economy that Bernanke was so much a part of, he kept him on, and then appointed a replacement that was also a part of that culture. And I don't even want to think about a corporate attorney as AG.
It is next to impossible to change behavior if there is no belief that the behavior is wrong. And little chance of recognising bad behavior if there is no one to slap fingers.
We desperately need a change in the corporate charter...one that recognises the value of those who labor and gives them an implicit ownership in the company. We need to change the charter of the corporation that directs that it should maximize return, except when that maximization is in direct opposition to the longterm health of the company or detrimental to the implicit ownership or in opposition to the national interests. Note, national interest, not state or regional interest.
No more beggar thy neighbor. No more competition between states.
Lastly, the corporations must recognise that they must invest in our country, not their profits.
And our educational system must quit looking to the "experts" in current culture to teach a new culture.
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