Al Gore says something sensible (for once)
I’m no fan of Al Gore. He exemplifies much of what I dislike about the so-called liberals in the US. He’s an arrogant, wealthy, statist who wants to expand state power and remove power from individuals.
He’s promoted the real threat of global warming with gross exaggeration and alarmism, in a manner which does not help the debate surrounding the issue and possible solutions.
However, he has said one thing which I fully agree with:
For whatever reason, the business world rewards a long-term perspective more than the political world does.
Of course, being a politician, he fails to identify the reasons - politics is about short term results, its about doing well in the polls, keeping your constituents happy and about winning that next election. Even for the Liberal Democrats who have little prospect of winning a majority in the Commons, the goals are very short term.
Business however is concerned less with public opinion (although brand protection leads to some short term efforts) and more with creating returns for investors. That means creating a stable company and looking for new ways to make profit in the long term.
That is why business is more likely to come up with methods to reduce oil consumption and to make money from recycling than government. Its why private holdings preserve resources much better than the state or public ownership.
So, full marks to Al Gore for recognising a simple fact which is beyond the grasp of most statists, but he needs to follow the reasoning through.
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July 11th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Business can also be about the short-term results, especially in the USA where profit and loss accounts are published quarterly. Companies that go in for long-term development can suffer the attention of short-term profit raiders.
The current uproar over flooding of houses over the last month has yet to address the private-sector aspect of this - the way developers threatened planning authorities with expensive appeals if they barred new developments encroaching on the flood plain. The problem of ensuring that the long-term gets considered in the making of short-term decisions is a real and serious aone and answers do not lie in mantras about the evils or virtues of statism or the superiority of markets.
July 11th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Yes, he is right that business rewards a long-term perspective more than politics does. But, no, he doesn’t “fail to identify the reasons.” The quote you found is from an interview in fastcompany.com, and the interviewer wasn’t interested in asking about or publishing his broader thoughts on what is wrong with the political system.
But if you are interested to know the answers he would give, I suggest you read The Assault on Reason.
In fact, if you took perhaps just a bit more time to find out what Mr. Gore thinks and also to learn about the factual and scientific basis for his alarm over global warming, you might be a touch less inclined to play the glib pundit and to dismiss him as an “arrogant, wealthy statist.” Instead, you might recognize him for the wise, compassionate statesman that he is.