As reported in ESM, the issue of what we call Enterprise Engagement is entering the political fray. Democratic presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang makes “human-centered capitalism” a pillar of his campaign. Note: The Enterprise Engagement Alliance is strictly non-partisan. 

 

On his campaign’s website, Yang , entrepreneur and founder of Venture for America, writes: “Capitalism as an economic system has led to unparalleled innovation and improvement in the human condition. Many consider it to have ‘won’ the war of ideas against socialism, but that simplistic view ignores that there is no such thing as a pure Capitalist system. And our current version of institutional capitalism and corporatism is a relatively recent development.”

 

He argues that “Our current emphasis on corporate profits isn’t working for the vast majority of Americans. This will only be made worse by the development of automation technology and AI.

We need to move to a new form of capitalism – Human Capitalism – that’s geared towards maximizing human well-being and fulfillment.” According to Yang, the key tenets of human capitalism are:

 

1. Humans are more important than money.

2. The unit of a Human Capitalism economy is each person, not each dollar.

3. Markets exist to serve our common goals and values.

 

He asserts that “The focus of our economy should be to maximize human welfare. Sometimes this aligns with a purely capitalist approach, where different entities compete for the best ideas. But there are plenty of times when a capitalist system leads to suboptimal outcomes. Think of an airline refusing to honor your ticket because they can get more money from a customer who purchases last-minute, or a pharmaceutical company charging extortionate rates for a life-saving drug because the customers are desperate.” 

 

As president, Yang says he would:

 

• Change the way we measure the economy, "from GDP and the stock market to a more inclusive set of measurements that ensures humans are thriving, not barely getting by. New measurements like Median Income and Standard of Living, Health-adjusted Life Expectancy, Mental Health, Childhood Success Rates, Social and Economic Mobility, Absence of Substance Abuse and other measurements will give us a much clearer and more powerful sense of how we are doing both individually and as a society."

• Rein in corporate excesses by appointing regulators who are paid a lot of money – competitive with senior jobs in the private sector – but then will be prohibited from going to private industry afterward. "Regulators need to be focused on making the right decisions and policies for the public with zero concern for their next position."

• The government’s goal should be "to drive individuals and organizations to find new ways to improve the standards of living of individuals and families on these dimensions. In order to spur development, the government should issue a new currency – the Digital Social Credit – which can be converted into dollars and used to reward people and organizations who drive significant social value. This new currency would allow people to measure the amount of good that they have done through various programs and actions."