I’ll be giving a talk on Friday, March 12 to the Houston Property Rights Association on the topic of “Entrepreneurship, Politics, and Ayn Rand”:
“Why are business success and free markets so unpopular in some quarters? There are lots of reasons. One is that business is seen as immoral or boring or both. For the political left, business is money-grubbing and free markets merely let the strong exploit the weak. Even for many conservatives who reject the leftist account, business is what sober, responsible people do to pay the bills.
“Both sides miss the excitement, the nobility, and the romance of business. Ayn Rand’s vision of the entrepreneur — and of those who operate entrepreneurially within existing businesses — is of potentially heroic value creation. At our best, each person in business and in life is akin to the artist creating what was not there before.
“How does Rand’s vision of life and work fit into the current mainstream view of academia and party-in-power politics? Hollywood movies and humanities professors focus on rapacious CEOs and burned-out cubicle workers. Rand focuses on Howard Roark, Dagny Taggart, and the free market system that has empowered and enriched billions.”
Thanks to Rob Bradley of the Institute for Energy Research for the invitation.
Dr. Hicks,
Thanks for coming all the way to Houston. I greatly enjoyed listening to your remarks at the HPRA meeting. I’m visiting your web site in hopes that you might have posted your example of Carly, Tanya, and Jane! I can recall how Carly and Jane used their money, but I can’t recall exactly where Tanya got her funds!
I wanted to pass along your story to my grown sons. Often they get swept up in current social conditioning and lose sight of the entrepreneurial stance that should be most important to them.
While listening to your remarks, I wished that there had been time enough to tell you about my husband for his story might serve as an example for you to use. He worked for a start up computer chip company in California. He commuted for about five years setting up their sales force while their wireless product was being invented and made ready. Once everything was in place, the company grew and the original 20 employees expanded to a great many more. One of those hired after my husband had done all the work to set up the sales force was an Iranian, Ali, who had been with another more established company in the same field.
One day at a sales meeting, Ali, chastised my husband for always being truthful to the customers! My husband was flabbergasted as his reputation in the industry is based upon his honesty. Ali also made the statement that “We have to get the customer pregnant; then he’s hooked and has to stay with us!” My husband quickly retorted, “That’s not the way I do business.” Shortly thereafter, once my husband realized that the chief executives were supporting such a position, he left the company. Doing business that way was not something he could do.
Leaving at that point meant that considerable profit with regard to stock was left on the table, so the parting was not without sacrifice.
Imagine my delight when last December, it was reported in the news that Ali had been charged by the SEC with insider trading, had confessed, and is facing jail time this summer.
While comeuppances may be sweet, they never quite satisfy the loss that was incurred.
Again, thank you for making the trip to Houston.
Mary McGarr
Hi Mary:
The talk was a pleasure for me. A very lively group and great questions.
Tonya embezzled. I took the Carly, Tonya, and Jane anecdotes from my JPE essay “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship” [pdf]. It’s also available at the SSRN site.
That’s a good anecdote about your husband’s integrity in business. Those examples should get more exposure. In his case, I hope it was only a short term loss and that sticking to his principles paid off in the long run.
Best,
Stephen