David Brooks Tells Mitt Romney To Defend The Efficient Form Of Capitalism That He Represents

David Brooks describes Mitt Romney as an efficiency expert who is like a personal trainer.  He founded Bain Capital to purchase inefficient companies so that Bain could make them productive.  Companies that responded to the Bain medicine survived, and those that did not respond were left to die. Bain Capital exemplifies the economic principle of "creative destruction".  Capitalism has a downside.  Only the strong survive.  Globalization is an important feature of this version of capitalism.  Only world class businesses can survive in the global economy.  This form of capitalism works best when government lets the free market function as it is supposed to function. Big government distorts the market and it inhibits the process of creative destruction and an efficient capitalist system.

Obama favors a system of capitalism without a downside.  Big government protects weak companies, and it blocks the process of creative destruction that is an essential ingredient of an efficient capitalist system.  He also opposes globalization which is the modern form of capitalism that puts a premium on efficiency.

The 2012 election is a battle between two forms of capitalism.  Romney should attack Obama's version of capitalism without a downside that is dependent upon big government for support.  He should vigorously defend the modern form of capitalism with a downside, that Bain Capital represents, against the old fashioned, and inefficient form of capitalism without a downside, that is dependent upon big government.

I thought that Romney attempted to sell this form of capitalism in Michigan and Ohio.  He argued that it was wrong for government to save the inefficient US automobile industry which should have been left to die.  That argument was not well received in states that depend upon the automobile industry for jobs. David Brooks may like social Darwinism and creative destruction but auto workers want jobs. Moreover, Romney wants to win the election.  He will tell the public what his focus groups tell him that they want to hear.  His base wants to be told that Obama is the devil and that they should vote against the devil.  His problem is that he does not have a good story to tell to independents.

David Brooks has not given good advice to Romney but his description of the battle between two forms of capitalism is not descriptive of the operative form of capitalism in the US.  The global financial system has not been able to function without support from governments.  The banks were not able to regulate themselves and they failed because of a lack of effective government regulation.  Uncontrolled globalization is not working either.  A global economy regulated only by the motivation of multinational corporations to maximize profits is not working either.  Corporate capitalism, and crony capitalism, will not lead to efficiency, or to the maximization of social welfare.