I’m Not Done Yet!
Q: How do you know when Prof G is on Bill Maher?
A: He tells you.
We took this (whatever “this” is) on the road last week, visiting my hometown for an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. There was a 50/50 chance I would throw up and pass out, but I kept my lunch down and earned the branded hand sanitizer and T-shirt in my dressing room. It felt great to be in front of a live audience again — one of the things I will not take for granted, post-corona.
This segment in particular, on crony capitalism, inspired a bunch of heat on Twitter, and garnered follows from @janemarielynch and @DorisKGoodwin. I am now considering running, as an Independent, for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Florida (see above: @DorisKGoodwin followed me). Anyways, I wrote at greater length about how we’ve lost the script on capitalism in April of 2020, so we are re-running that post again.
Lenin said nothing can happen for decades, and then decades can happen in weeks. Yes, a pandemic pulls the future forward, and there’s a lot to learn. Another phenomenon that forms rain clouds of perspective is, wait for it … death. Or, specifically, being close to it.
My father is approaching 90, recently divorced (for the fourth time), and spends his days watching replays of Maple Leafs games and abusing Xanax. His affinity for Xanies is a feature, not a bug, since at the end of your life, “long-term effects” loses its meaning. He’s near the end, exceptionally intelligent, and high. In sum, he’s my Yoda.
Our calls are mostly me yelling short questions (“HOW ARE THE LEAFS LOOKING FOR NEXT YEAR?”) and waiting for something profound in return. Occasionally, he delivers.
“You must unlearn what you have learned!”
Just kidding, Yoda did actually say that. But when I asked my dad what he thinks makes America different, he said:
“America is a terrible place to be stupid.”
That’s why he immigrated here. A pillar of capitalism is that you can’t reward the winners without punishing the losers. I worry our government has been co-opted by the wealthy and is focused on protecting the previous generation of winners, even if it means reducing future generations’ ability to win. Aren’t we borrowing against our children’s prosperity to protect the wealth of the top ten — if not one — percent?
In Depression-era Scotland, my dad was physically abused by his father. His mother spent the money he sent home from the Royal Navy on whiskey and cigarettes. He took a huge risk and came to America. My mom took a similar risk, leaving her two youngest siblings in an orphanage (her mom and dad had both died in their early fifties), and bought a ticket on a steamship. She had a small suitcase and 110 quid that she hid in both socks. Why? Because they wanted to work their asses off and be rewarded for the risks they were willing to take. This is capitalism: A beacon of hope for people who are smart, hard working, and comfortable with risk, and the promise of a correspondingly greater share of the spoils.
However, this is no more. Modern-day “capitalism” in America means flattening the risk curve for people who already have money by borrowing from future generations with debt-fueled bailouts for companies. We have consciously decided to reduce the downside for the wealthy, thereby limiting the upside for future generations.
CNBC guest: Equity holders deserve to get wiped out.
CNBC host: Why does anybody deserve to get wiped out in a crisis like this? This is a natural disaster, why does anybody deserve to get wiped out? Wouldn’t that be immoral in and of itself?
“Immoral,” here we go. Morality for CNBC, and the current administration, is not capitalism but the worst type of socialism: Cronyism. Rugged individualism and capitalism on the way up, privatizing the gains, then “we’re all in this together” on the way down, as we socialize the losses with bailouts.
Red Envelope
In 1999, the firm I co-founded, Red Envelope, was drafting an S-1 in anticipation of an IPO. At 31, I stood to register $30-60 million on the IPO. Then the dot-com bubble burst, and that damaged us, but the injuries weren’t fatal, and we were the only retail IPO of 2002. In 2008, a longshoreman strike left all our holiday merchandise hostage on a cargo ship eight miles off the shores of the port of Long Beach. With the credit crisis taking hold, a prescient analyst at Wells Fargo decided to pull our credit facility. Within 90 days, we were Chapter 11. That event, combined with my divorce, reduced my net worth by 97 percent.
I didn’t deserve to lose near-everything. What happened wasn’t my fault — ok, maybe the divorce was. Regardless, was this fair or (im)moral? Just as there’s no crying in baseball, there’s no fairness in shareholder accretion or destruction. Looking at jets at 31 wasn’t moral or fair either. So, what happened? Exactly what’s supposed to happen in a market economy: downside registered against commensurate upside.
Red Envelope went through something also uniquely American — and productive — bankruptcy. The equity holders (e.g., Yours Truly) were wiped out (#bummer). However, we did our duty as board members and found a buyer, Liberty Media, who paid our vendors and kept the employees. No jobs lost, all debtors paid. When a 31 year-old is shopping for jets in November, part of the agreement with the Invisible Hand is that he may lose most/all of it by March. There’s a word for that … capitalism.
The capital structure of private firms is meant to balance upside and downside. CNBC/Trump want to protect current equity holders at the expense of future generations with rescue packages that explode the deficit. They also want to protect airlines, who spent $45 billion on buybacks and now want a $54 billion bailout, disincentivizing other firms (e.g., Berkshire Hathaway) that have built huge cash piles foregoing current returns. [Ed. note: Airlines ultimately received approximately $50 billion.]
The rescue package should protect people, not businesses. From 2017 to 2019, the CEOs of Delta, American, United, and Carnival Cruises earned over $150 million in compensation. But, now … “We’re in this together” (i.e., “bail our asses out”).
And what happens if they (gasp!), go bankrupt? Simple: The equity holders and unsecured debt holders get wiped out. These are the cohorts who, despite the recent meltdown, have registered a 3.3x increase in the Dow since the lows of 2008.
But so long as we keep making more old people, and younger people want to take their kids to Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge, there will be cruise lines and airlines. Since 2000, U.S. airlines have declared bankruptcy 66 times. Despite the obvious vulnerability of the sector, boards/CEOs of the six largest airlines have spent 96 percent of their free cash flow on share buybacks, bolstering the share price and compensation of management … who now want a bailout. They should be allowed to fail. Bondholders will own the firms. Ships and planes will continue to float and fly, and there will still be a steel tube with recirculated air waiting for you post-molestation by Roy from TSA.
The Lie
Trump/CNBC have adopted a narrative that this is about protecting the most vulnerable. No, it’s about buttressing the most wealthy. Pandemics typically result in higher wages over the next several decades as society recognizes that essential workers (the gal/guy delivering your Greek yogurt and placing your Indian food in the backseat of your car) should be paid more. This is a good thing.
Letting firms fail, and share prices fall to their market level, also provides younger generations with the same opportunities that we, Gen X and boomers, were given: a chance to buy Amazon at 50x (vs. 100x) earnings and Brooklyn real estate at $300 (vs. $1,000) per square foot. Just as we pretend our service men and women are heroes, and then treat them like chumps, CNBC advertisers and Peter Navarro want to pretend they give a sh*t about younger generations so they can protect the wealth of old people and management/advertisers. Enough already.
Earlier this week, I was on MSNBC with an early Uber employee, who reminded us that “We’re all in this together.” What bullsh*t. My guess is that this executive registered $10-100 million in equity crafting software that figured out an elegant way to pay the company’s 3.9 million “driver partners” less than minimum wage, ensure Uber isn’t obligated to provide them with health insurance, and avoid paying payroll taxes to adequately fund the CDC. But Dara Khosrowshahi and his several hundred-strong comms department wrote a compelling letter to the government urging them to help his driver partners.
Dara, pay your “partners” before picking up the pen again.
Walking the Walk — PPP
We recently founded Section4, a firm attempting to disrupt graduate business education. We offer online business/strategy sprints that aim to provide 30-50 percent of my classes at NYU Stern for seven percent of the price. We are eligible for some of the $350 billion federal PPP program. With a modest amount of paperwork, in seven days or less, we’d receive a loan for approximately $250,000. If we don’t lay off any employees, most of the loan would likely be forgiven. This is meaningful cabbage for us.
We are not going to apply for the program.
Our backers are wealthy, and if we can’t make this work — pandemic or not — then we don’t deserve to be in business. Yeah, our demise wouldn’t be our fault, as is the case with most success. Like steroids for the body, the moral hazard of government assistance only leaves the economy less healthy in the long run.
Just as death is a key part of life, so is the demise and reinvention of firms that can’t endure tropes. Covid-19 is no more historic than an 11 year-long bull market. With dangerous disregard for future generations, we’ve decided that hundreds of thousands of people dying is meaningful, but the NASDAQ going down would be worse. The rescue package is $2.2 trillion. The annual CDC budget — $6.6 billion.
We. Have. Lost. The. Script.
To be clear, socialism may be a better way to go, as evidenced by the study showing that four of the five happiest nations are socialist democracies. However, unless we’re going to provide universal healthcare and universal pre-K, let’s not embrace The Hunger Games for the working class on the way up, and the Hallmark Channel for the shareholder class on the way down. The current administration, the wealthy, and the media have embraced policies that bless the caching of power and wealth, creating a nation of brittle companies and government agencies.
The terrible thing about crises is that they always happen. The wonderful thing is that they always end. As we fight to bring this crisis to an end, let’s re-embrace capitalism and foster a future generation of leaders and firms that are soldiers, not hoarders. Yes, America is a terrible place to be stupid. It will be a worse place if we replace capitalism with cronyism.
Life is so rich,
P.S. Registration is now open for Section4’s Product Strategy Sprint with my renowned (and dashingly handsome) NYU Stern colleague, Adam Alter. Companies today live and die by product strategy, and Adam is someone I trust immensely in this area. Learn more about the sprint experience.
P.P.S. Achievement is in pencil until people you love set it in ink. Here’s my Dad’s reaction to seeing me on his favorite television show…
Corporate America, Trump…they’re not the problem. Our politicians and campaign finance policies are. Share holders get wiped out, absolutely! Except politicians are also shareholders, they ain’t gettin wiped out and will always favor the people who fill their coffers. They’ll socialize losses to save themselves and they’re jobs. Cronyism? Hunter Biden, Jenna Bush? No one else could be on the board of Burisma Holdings?! No one else could host the today show?! The cronysim, nepatism & favoritism in politics and Hollywood is so flagrant and undisguised it’s a joke. Elites are laughing all the way to the bank, while middle class consumers eat it up and struggle.
Just saw you on the WeWork documentary and had to look you up! I love your blog and writing style.
I know this is late, but Scott, you were phenomenal on Real Time — I was telling my friends “I knew there was a reason I keep tuning in”. I’m sincerely hoping to hear/see you appear on some of the better progressive news/analysis shows & podcasts, perhaps the Chauncey Devega Show, David Pakman, Rumble, or The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder. Kudos, you reminded me there is still young talent out there whose voices are desperately needed in this abysmal era. Thank you!
OK, but how many more jobs would have been lost without those bailouts?
Best piece yet! So for us average Joe/Janes We’re not yet spoiled by the disease of cronyism, what are your best recommendations besides buying from small businesses and helping others in need if we have the means?
Advocate for political change.
The Country I grew up in was building the interstate highway system, figuring out how to send a man to the moon and was developing the technology that created the internet. The NYC school system taught me we were all part of a great melting pot; where in a classless society we all had an equal chance to climb the ladder of success and we try our best to live by the Golden Rule. There were problems but we continued to try and create a more perfect union.
We always looked and moved forward. We sent a man to the moon and there were solar panels on the White House.
I was a class of 1970 high school graduate who walked into a gleaming skyscraper in Manhattan and began my journey from mailroom to (almost) boardroom.
The companies expected, encouraged and paid for their employees to take advantage of every opportunity to grow and advance personally and professionally. There were policies and programs to bring more women and minorities into the Fortune 500 companies. The companies benchmarked each other on who had the better employee benefits.
The America I grew up in began to change in the 1980s. The shareholders became more important than the employees, R&D and Capex. Meeting Wall street expectations became the new benchmark for corporate success.
A forty-year campaign was begun to undermine the people’s faith in their Government, Government agencies and Government employees.
We do not share a common heritage. What we did share was a common belief and faith in our government. We were citizens of the greatest Country in the world. Citizens pay their taxes, help those less fortunate, do not flush their toilet in their neighbors’ drinking water or throw their garbage in the street and never spit in the subway.
Over forty years people have been taught to see themselves not as citizens but as taxpayers. If you see yourself as a taxpayer it is easy to believe you are the victim of the welfare queens, young bucks, illegal immigrants and all those lazy people who live off your tax dollars. As you become more resentful and angrier you lose empathy for your fellow citizens and feed the selfish “I did it on my own” attitude that has poisoned this country for decades. The reason this country is exceptional is because of our Government. Since the Erie Canal, our Government has made the investments that drive economic development and expansion. Capitalism will fill all the rungs of the ladder; the Government’s role is to ensure the bottom rungs are treated with dignity and respect.
Jeff Bezos and Reed Hastings had transformative ideas that do not and could not exist without a Government Agency, the USPS. (Counting RMDs I may be paying 22% and they pay zero. WTF?). The weepy billionaire, the coffee guy, the CNBC show host who calls Democrats communists have all forgotten that generations of Americans paid their taxes and worked hard to build the civil and physical infrastructure that allowed them to achieve their pursuit of happiness.
My last four years of work were 2010-2014. (I took the severance package at 57, too programmed to stop working, retired at 62) I worked for a big box store as a team supervisor. Full time employee with supervisory responsibility for 12 people. $30,000 per year minus $6,000 for health benefits.
The corporate culture was “you are lucky to have a job”.
“America is a terrible place to be stupid.”
Great comment.
Both Galloways are good.
Professor:
as an immigrant myself and son of an immigrant I hate to see great countries decay in the face off poor policy and plain stupidity. My father moved from Spain to Venezuela taking a huge risk like your parents in search for a better life. He found it in a booming country where he married and lived the rest of his life. That country has been now stripped naked and left bare to ruin in misery, so me and my family decide to come here to look for a better future. Now I see some signs here in the US that resemble the Venezuela of the 80’s which is when it all started for us. I’d hate to see this great country fail and fall hostage to political polarization and cronyism. If you do run, please consider me your No. 1 backer and let me work for you in your campaign. I will work for free but I do think that change is needed and you are the right kind of change we need. A bit crazy but sound on principle and data.
While I could not agree with you more… that capitalism has been co-opted by the Mantra of “privatize gain and socialize risk”, given the immense gulf in wealth distribution – how do we wrestle back representation and meaningful change if the top 1% essentially controls all levers of power. For most of my adult life, I would have suggested the ballot box – but there remains so few “legislators” and a cornucopia of “politicians”. Your insight is sharp, articulately expressed and backed my meaningful data – but what is the blueprint to change?
Bill Maher’s guest this week, David Shor, made it clear why your running as an Independent for the Senate is so critically needed. In detail he explained how the progressive/liberal Left is actually way out of sync with the majority of the country. The “Game” is to camouflage themselves as sharing the concerns of the center come election time. Same thing happens on the Right. The excellent “Social Dilemma” documentary made if clear how desperately we are in need of the “Radical Center” or “Extreme Center.” Don’t worry about giving Rubio the win – wipe them both out. You’ve got white hot issues and a tsunami of charisma. You share the same sharp intelligence and personality as Sen Angus King (who I’ve worked closely personally with on major energy issues), and similar impatience and disgust at what is happening to the US. Follow his same path in getting to the US Senate as an Independent. If helpful I can build a bridge to him for you.
My Dad was a stockbroker in the 80s. The only child of two first generation Irish Americans who were pro-FDR, pro workers (they were bank employees). My Dad was proud to have “exceeded” his parents, and always opined, “The world revolves on enlightened self interest.” He was the first to go to college and to adopt a veneer of respectability. The professional class. He quoted Milton Friedman. He went to Church on Sundays and believed in trickle down economics. Unfortunately, I bought into the myths he fed me for the first half of my career. I worked in corporate America for 20 year at the top tier of the Fortune 100. I am 45 years old. I watched the lies that drew us into Iraq, and saw my friends lose their jobs when Bear Sterns collapsed and saw the country descend into recession because of greedy assholes who only looked out for themselves. It’s just self interest- no enlightenment. As you say, we have lost the plot.
Thank you, same experience here. Greed at all costs. “find me 11000 votes” is hardly just a Trump thing. It’s who we have become now. Corporatization is destroying capitalism. And business schools are ground zero of the epidemic.
By the way. What about a Clubhouse Club Scott? I`d love to be controversial on stage with you and other fans (and opponents) of yours. There are surely topics you haven`t raised yet that might annoy the fat and happy. No matter what, keep up the good work. Love your work
I believe Scott meant to write “social” democracies and not socialist. They are two very different things. The former (Sweden, Denmark, some others) have super high social safety nets but the government does not control the means of economic production, which is what socialist means. Bernie Sanders refers to the Scandinavian-model countries as socialist (and the media let him get away with it). They are not.
True. The swedish (and scandinavian) middle way is definitively something to build upon. Keep the taxes low on labour and get rid of the (in insurance terms) stupid idea of privately financed health care and education for kids/youngsters and the Us have a few gears more.
“To be clear, socialism may be a better way to go” and “let’s re-embrace capitalism” in the same article. Are you taking some of your dad’s drugs? 🙂 Laissez faire capitalism is the problem and socialist democracies are happy because everyone is supported. Competition and hustle are still allowed. Please embrace this.
Why do you keep referring to Trump and “this administration” when we are 2 months into the Biden administration?
GENIUS, it’s a reprint of an essay he wrote in April of 2020
How about some reflection about just how much business schools at our top universities (especially public unis) are part of the corporate-marketing complex that glorifies the behaviors you describe here? While looking after themselves just fine, Oh for example there’s tenure protection for tax-payer funded jobs where salary inflation has reached ridiculous proportions in contrast to any comparatives, justified by “oh we don’t get stock options, you see”. Yeah! neither do paper-publishing researchers in a lot of other places. Oh and then there’s this – overpaid 70-year old tenured faculty at public universities have NO mandatory retirement age – they conveniently ensured this was written into the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1993. Give me a break! And these same “hoarders” write books and play savants on TV about the great blessings of creative destruction. What a scam. I feel so bad for young Americans like my kids – they’re being taken for a ride by just about anyone around them and it’s not going to end well. History should inform us that revolutions always start on campus, maybe here’s a reason why. Hope to hear more from you about this, @profgalloway.
Saw you on Bill Maher. You were fabulous! Having said that, I’m worried that an Independent Senate run will hurt the Democrat trying to unseat Marco Rubio who is a bible verse spewing idiot.
The airline issue (in fact, any transport) needs a more nuanced response. There does need to be some level of service retained in adverse times, for humanitarian needs and to help prevent the economy siezing up. The question is how to target the funds to achieve the outcome without excessively enriching or protecting those that don’t need protection. An outright bankruptcy is likely to disrupt that, in the short term.
Nuanced responses would need more time, and probably regulation (not really the approach of the previous administration). E.g. franchising or contracting routes to guarantee a minimum level of service with competitive open access on top.
As a contrary example, a former communist country had just decided to let their 90+ year old flag carrying airline go into liquidation (no more bailout). That airline is CSA (Czechia/Slovak Republic). Most/all of their routes are covered by other airlines (mostly LCC’s) and trains/long distance bus, so there was no need to bailout.
As always, a provocative statement on the state of capitalism and the twisted use of bail out funding. One correction is in order: you referenced the European “socialist” democracies, but the accurate term is “social” democracies. There is a big difference. And curiously while there are socialist parties in many if the euro European countries, no socialist party is currently solely in power.
I am woke, inspired by intellect and truth – seems many have lost their ability to tune out the rubbish of social media and tune into living to their best ability. You do that and more, enjoyed your spot with Bill, and signed up to hear more…I am Canadian who cherishes and embraces intelligence and common sense, which does not seem so common these days.
Saw you on Real Time, you were awesome. We need a pandemic of common sense… too bad it’s not contagious!
Hi Scott I love your posts and loved you on Maher, thank you. Unfortunately it’s not just in the US: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/19/uk-furlough-scheme-pays-out-millions-to-foreign-states-and-tax-exiles?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
social democracies, not socialist democracies. thanks for a great newsletter
Best quote I read from the big yin, (that is what Prof. Scott Galloway is called in Glasgow, Scotland) was “enragement engagement” Keep people angry and outraged to share their online anger, all to sell some adverts. Whatever happened to the creativity that ruled adland? Half naked guys stripping off in a 1960’s launderette with a soundtrack of Marvin Gaye singing I heard it through the grapevine? Serious question. Is 47 years old, too old to do those Sprint online courses? I am NOT a millennial. I’m a Generation X “Coolennial” who misses creativity in advertising.
Billy Connolly is the Big Yin. Always has been, always will be.
Thank you Scott. In Australia government paying wages during the pandemic has worked because the pandemic response has been so successful and the economy has rebounded with 5.8% unemployment. But we haven’t learned lessons of moral hazard from firms paying job support out as dividends. Intervention in capitalism requires government to take the pound of flesh from rapacious capitalists when they are on their knees, like the financial crisis. Separately, it would be helpful to refer to Scandinavian ‘social democracy’ not ‘socialist’. They are two very different things and evoke different responses.
Thank you Scott. In Australia government paying wages during the pandemic has worked because the pandemic response has been so successful and the economy has rebounded with 5.8% unemployment. But we haven’t learned lessons of moral hazard from firms paying job support out as dividends. Intervention in capitalism requires government to take the pound of flesh from rapacious capitalists when they are on their knees. We didn’t learn from the financial crisis. Separately, it would be helpful to refer to Scandinavian ‘social democracy’ not ‘socialist’. They are two very different things and evoke different responses.
I am a very happy recipient of No Mercy/No Malice, having come across you and your pearls of wisdom not through Bill Maher but Kara Swisher. I’m sure that’s galling : ) but it’s simply how I got here.
Agree on most all points, 99%+ as a guess, but…”A pillar of capitalism is that you can’t reward the winners without punishing the losers.” Is it really punishment? Is failure in capitalism an “imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome” or just a consequence. (via wikipedia, btw) They’re not the same. Can there be reward without an *imposed* punishment?
As to, “Just as death is a key part of life, so is the demise and reinvention of firms that can’t endure tropes. Covid-19 is no more historic than an 11 year-long bull market,” I can’t speak to how often 11 yr long bull markets occur, but full blown pandemics are pretty f’n rare. I own a catering business. We’ve been shut down for months as a way of protecting the public from a problem not of our doing. I get it. I’m not complaining. Per se. But it’s reasonable for businesses like ours to do our part to protect the public *and* get the public helping us survive the cost of that protection, a cost we could never, ever have planned for financially, especially given the low overall returns in our industry.
Thanks for this, regardless. The television soundbites of 20 years ago were bad enough for the value of public discourse, twitter and FB have made it 1000x worse. Nuance? Meaningful background? Only if one’s willing to read posts like this one.
Glad to hear you are considering running as an independent. In my opinion the major parties are absolutely corrupted at this point. In fact that is the main problem and why I don’t feel sending any amount of money to Washington will do any good, regardless of equalizing the playing field, because the federal government is so incompetent and corrupt.
You should be invited back. But some think you won’t be? Why not?
Maybe because Scott speaks professionally for a living. That’s why his message came across clearly and connected with the studio audience. Celebrities don’t have the same deep well of knowledge, nor the practiced delivery that Scott has. My guess is that if Bill was irked, it’s because Scott sounded like he was on a campaign trail, while those of us that Love him (Capital L Love) know that this is Scott, passionate, full of conviction and still making room for empathy.
I will be short and simple
This newsletter is brilliant and true.
I agree.
You were the best guest, maybe ever. It was so much fun to see you outthink that pothead and your take on Kristin Gillibrand was totally correct, even if I do blame Al Franken for crapping out. I hope you get your own show.
Your dad is precious! I’m glad he got to enjoy your appearance, which was fabulous. Maher needs to have you back pronto!
I signed up to your newsletter after I saw you on Bill Maher.
I’d like for you to run for the Senate – I live in Florida. I want intelligent people like you to vote for instead of “slick” people who are all style and no substance. You understand things, can articulate it, have action plans, you inspire and you are human.
Thanks so much for these digital rays of sunshine. The way you admire your dad for what he is makes me smile. Your discussions on business and the state of the world are always informative and much appreciated.
Keep it up.
You were great on Maher’s show but I think Bill missed your point about the need for nuance in our discussions. His mind must have been elsewhere when he made the argument that the only alternative to capitalism is Communism. Really? Ever heard of Denmark?
You did a great job on Maher and that show is why I signed up for your newsletter. I want to learn more from you. Keep up the good work!
Prescience and straight to the point. Very accurate commentary about the lack of the equity reset.
Ever since I read your book (2017) The Four, I’ve been listening/reading pretty much every podcast, post etc. Now my friends are Prof G junkies.
Keep up the great work.
Mike from NZ
Prescience and straight to the point. Very accurate commentary about the lack of the equity reset.
Ever since I read your book (2017) The Four, I’ve been listening/reading pretty much every podcast, post etc. Now my friends are Prof G junkies.
Keep up the great work.
Mike from NZ
Dawg.Run.2022.
I must say I tend to agree with you most of the time. I wish you would run for office but not the senate. Go for the governor’s office then President. Are you familiar with Katherine Gehl. She has some very interesting political ideas that would seem to support your direction.
Interesting that you haven’t gone after the game industry yet, where the CEO of one of the more revered game companies just laid off 200 employees, then took a $200M (!) bonus payment a few days later. That’s more that all of your airline CEOs combined. As a bonus.
Prof G to echo what C Cook said: what is your take on the newest bailout for many entities who don’t deserve it in lieu of those who are really in need? Another 1.9 trillion on top of 900 billion on top of 2.4 trillion. Where does it stop?
You are a star Prof G and not because you were on Bill Maher. It is your humanity, intelligence and generosity in sharing your views with the world. You always talk about people you admire on your podcasts and blog but for alot of people YOU are the one we admire. You make the world a better place with your vulnerability, honesty and your thoughts. Couldn’t be more proud you live in this country and you deserve all the success you have gotten. Hard work & humility always pays off. Congrats on everything.
Want to fix it? Stop all bailouts, for the DNC that means inept States, corrupt Union pension funds, mis-allocated Disaster relief, and more recently, school COVID bailout money. GOP isn’t in charge any more, so start staring at Biden administration.
Just exactly what Darin posted below
Senate: do it! But seriously, why stop there? My startup is taking on a global duopoly having just completed your strategy and brand sprints. We need a third party for the reasonable majority that’s formed the same way. Hit me up.
Been an avid viewer of Real Time for the past 8-9 years and have never seen such eloquent and articulate commentary from a guest… And definitely the first time I have seen Bill himself clap in favor as well. Amazing work you do Prof Galloway!
I think you are NEVER done !!! Keep it up ….
To the contrary, America must be a WONDERFUL place to be stupid because legions of ignorant and arrogant folks (the magic combination) still manage to do stupid things day after day without any real repercussions.
Started out soft waist deep in gurgitations but made some sense later on with personal egs. My question: why the focUS on saving small business? If 70 per cent of them fail, which they would have done anyway 90 per cent more will start up next year. There is nothing sacred about overcharged, badly prepared and poorly served food that could be far better prepared, cheaper and healthier made at home. Except that most middle class Yanks make too much, know too little and are too stup I’d to do so.
Thoroughly enjoyed your stint on Real Time with Bill Maher; you lit up the panel and set Maher back on his heels! If it wasn’t meant as ironic, mulling over running as an Independent for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Florida would be a great idea . . . except make it clear it would be on the right-leaning/Libertarian side of things; otherwise you might split away some of the Democratic vote. As for the Maple Leafs, it’s a lost cause as most of us here in Toronto know full well; the owners of the Leafs pay just enough but never pay high for their talent, knowing the foolish Leaf-Fans will always pay for any kind of hockey.
Love the story and pic of Dad, he’s braw and no doubt a charmer. Thanks for your weekly dose of good sense and honest perspective.
Dear Prof. G.,
It made me happy to read the story of your parents and see the picture of your dad. Thank you for that and for your compelling writing.
fna right . Love our dad too .
Hell Yes! I have been following your words since I saw your show on VICE… Sadly not sooner. But Hell YES, it feels good to hear a no bullshit breakdown of the way it is! Please run for office, our nation needs more intelligence in office!
Just finished a historic novel focusing on Californians and capitalism during and shortly after the Dust Bowl….seems the very rich haven’t changed very much….or have they???? Do they/we really need to pay people more $ to stay home than they would make if they were working? All under the name of capitalism????? PS Your Dad is a real Dapper Dan….you are so lucky to have him and kudos to both your parents for having the courage to take the leap..
Love your stuff and attitude, Dr. Scott. Could I get some clarification? Are you overly critical of capitalism because you are conflating capitalism (an economic systems theory) with other theories, like political economics and socialism? I believe as you apparently do, that capitalism is failing, due to politics and social power (fed by money). Wouldn’t it be useful to specify and discriminate among these different elements rather than just blaming capitalism? Serious question, not criticizing.
It scares me a bit – no, a lot – as I have three young adults who want to make a living. The next question is, though – how do we make this happen? How do we get back or go forward to a place where the uber rich don’t get uber richer?
One more thing. I’m glad you made your dad proud. My dad has dementia – I could only wish to get a real reaction from I’m now.
Testing
I watched Bill Maher for the first time in forever because I’ve grown tired of his crap…you crushed it. Offers MUST be rolling in…
Scott, how many Red Bulls before your Bill Maher appearance?…..you were on it! KEEP doing what you’re doing, and for god sakes, do run for office, the higher office the better.
You killed on Bill Maher. I hope he has you back but you may have over-shadowed him. Pretty sure he liked you nonetheless. Your Dad looks so dapper. The argyle vest. 😭
Yes, something to think about. Hasn’t this been going on since time immemorial? Struggling classes always have been fodder for the upper echelons. Why should it be different now?
A few lines of code by a few lucky bas*ards have been rewarded tremendously. Masses are struggling. The hand of good luck is not universal. Sad.
Professor, your points are well presented. Hope some of the leaders (when they can find time from counting their money) will pay attention. For the good of many!
We are failing at becoming great ancestors. But we can turn this ship…just need to focus on maximizing human flourishing for this generation and the next few dozen to come…
I think that writing about how bad Trumps monetary response to coronavirus (which kept people employed during a terrible downturn) was while conveniently disregarding Biden’s recent 1.9 trillion spending bill (when the economy is red hot) makes it hard for people to take you seriously on the political front.
You do know that the article was written a year ago before Biden was elected?
Such an inspired post ! Professor G picked himself up and restarted at age 43 and look now! A phoenix rising from the ashes! Thanks for sharing your wisdom and insights. Hope Section 4 crushes it. Let’s build a better future together!