INTHEBLACK November 2021 - Magazine - Page 16
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// FAS T F O C U S
STORY LACHLAN COLQUHOUN
AT A
GLANCE
CAPITALISM’S
INCLUSIVE
RESET
W I D E N I N G I N C O M E D I S PA R I T Y A N D A H E I G H T E N E D F O C U S
O N T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F S O C I A L L I C E N C E I N B U S I N E S S
A C T I V I T Y H AV E D R I V E N C A L L S F O R A M O R E I N C L U S I V E
F O R M O F C A P I TA L I S M .
16 ITB November 2021
The growth in “neoliberalism” has caused
the role of government
in the Western world
to shrink, but rising
income disparity
and environmental
concerns are driving
a shift.
Commentators suggest
it is time for a re-set
that brings more
inclusivity to
capitalism and gives
more consideration
to environment,
social and governance
factors.
I
n the 1970s, Nobel Prize-winning economist
Milton Friedman said that the “only social
responsibility of a business is to use its
resources and engage in activities designed
to increase its profits”.
Much has happened in the intervening decades
since Friedman’s pronouncement.
The advent of “neo-liberalism” has seen the
role of governments in the Western world shrink
and many of the regulatory and legislative guard
rails for business removed.
While this had the immediate effect of
unshackling business activity and unleashing
forces such as privatisation and globalisation,
the more recent focus on the environment has
brought the needle back the other way, and
“social licence” has risen in importance.
The growing income disparity in affluent
countries has played into this, creating a new
momentum for so-called “inclusive capitalism”,