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Summary of a Recent Business Week Survey

The Sept 11th edition of Business Week  carried a very interesting article on attitudes about big business etc. in the USA based on a new survey. Since most people would not have seen this, we are summarizing the data given. With the US economy seemingly better than ever (so they say although figures from the Financial Times a few months ago seemed to suggest that this is rather patchy with most US companies only only treading water on productivity, etc.), the article's authors are somewhat baffled by some of the responses.

For example 72% of those polled think that business has too much power over aspects of American life. 74% agree with Gore's demagogic remark made at the Democrat Party's convention  that Americans must stand up and "say no" to "Big Business, Big Oil, the big polluters, the pharmaceutical companies, the HMOs" Only 47% now think that what is good for business is good for most Americans. 66% however believe that large profits are more important to big business than developing safe, reliable quality products for consumers.

And that's not all. The report continues "The revved-up New Economy has also left many families feeling overworked and streesed out. The sticking point in last month's strike at Verizon Comminications was workers' complaints about burnout and mandatory overtime, which management finally agreed to limit."

Workers have also noted that some (the rich) are doing a lot better in the economic upturn than the rest (the poor). "Average wages and benefits have outpaced inflation by only 7.6% since the last recession ended in 1992, while productivity has jumped by 17.9%".

73% of those polled feel that the bosses are too well paid. The article lists a number of areas where friction is or could develop, including opposition to commercialism in schools, Frankenfoods (where concerns about genetically modified foods have now spread from Europe to the US), globalization, sweatshops, low pay, etc.

Other responses polled include:

• 56% think they are paid too little with 42% thinking that their pay is about right and those who think that they are too highly paid not registering enough votes to count.
• 74% think companies have too much influence on political life.
• Only 4% think that all companies should do is make profit, the rest think that companies owe something to the community and should sacrifice some of their profits for the benefit of the workers and the community (fat chance!)
• 46% strongly agree (with 37% somewhat agreeing) that entertainment and popular culture are dominated corporate money which seeks mass appeal over quality.

The full poll details can be viewed at:

http://www.businessweek.com