At TED2015, Paul Tudor Jones II made a case for “just corporate behavior.” Photo: Bret Hartman/TED
Can capital be just? As a firm believer in capitalism and the free market, Paul Tudor Jones II believes that it can be. Jones is the founder of the Tudor Investment Corporation and the Tudor Group, which trade in the fixed-income, equity, currency and commodity markets. He thinks it is time to expand the “narrow definitions of capitalism” that threaten the underpinnings of our society and develop a new model for corporate profit that includes justness and responsibility.
It’s a good time for companies: in the US, corporate revenues are at their highest point in 40 years. The problem, Jones points out, is that as profit margins grow, so does income inequality. And income inequality is closely linked to lower life expectancy, literacy and math proficiency, infant mortality, homicides, imprisonment, teenage births, trust among ourselves, obesity, and, finally, social mobility. In these measures, the US is off the charts.
“This gap between the 1 percent and the rest of America, and between the US and the rest of the world, cannot and will not persist,” says the investor. “Historically, these kinds of gaps get closed in one of three ways: by revolution, higher taxes or wars. None are on my bucket list.”
Jones proposes a fourth way: just corporate behavior. He formed Just Capital, a not-for-profit that aims to increase justness in companies. It all starts with defining “justness” — to do this, he is asking the public for input. As it stands, there is no universal standard monitoring company behavior. Tudor and his team will conduct annual national surveys in the US, polling individuals on their top priorities, be it job creation, inventing healthy products or being eco-friendly. Just Capital will release these results annually – keep an eye out for the first survey results this September.
Ultimately, Jones hopes, the free market will take hold and reward the companies that are the most just. “Capitalism has driven just about every great innovation that has made our world a more prosperous, comfortable and inspiring place to live. But capitalism has to be based on justice and morality…and never more so than today with economic divisions large and growing.”
This is not an argument against progress, Jones emphasizes. “I want that electric car, or the jet packs that we all thought we’d have by now.” But he’s hoping that increased wealth will bring with it a stronger sense of corporate responsibility. “When we begin to put justness on par with profits, we get the most valuable thing in the world. We get back our humanity.”
Comments (29)
Philippe Boucher commented on Mar 22 2015
Why don’t you just post the talk as several previous people asked? WHY?
http://temporaryworkersofamerica.org
gumilangra commented on Mar 21 2015
Reblogged this on Ruang Bebas and commented:
The comments section. :))
hyttfors commented on Mar 21 2015
Wanted to share this idea 3 yrs ago.. :) http://youtu.be/1_VIJdVnvSc
markywarky commented on Mar 21 2015
All lovely and true words. However they are simply words. And as usual, will do NOTHING to stop the trajectory we’re on.
Why? Because to turns things around now you are asking the unbridled greedy greasy maggots that be (the ones who benefit from the sloshing tsunami of money pouring into their pockets, Wall St. Bankers, CEOs, politicians who make the laws, etc) to turn their myopic psychopathic attention onto someone beyond themselves (and their own). Not going to happen.
pwlsax commented on Mar 26 2015
Yes, talk is cheap. But right now it’s all we’ve got.
Robert Evans commented on Mar 21 2015
Paul Tudor Jones asks for public comment for ‘what is justness’ as it applies to corporations and capitalism. He feels that it must have a moral component. I disagree.
Corporate accountability must be maintained. Our system is built on the unit of the individual and equality. The corporate shield has diminished these units. Individual right and authority has been eclipsed by corporate influence bought by wealth. The glaring gap in wealth is the result.
The US has entrusted the task of overseeing corporate behavior to a system of regulation. I feel that this has been a dismal failure. Why not instead make the judicial system more accessible and affordable for individuals to bring complaints of corporate malfeasance?
tapscie commented on Mar 21 2015
Will corporates back to humanity?
Adam Lambert commented on Mar 20 2015
Where is the actual talk? Why post this without the talk?
Trevor Myler commented on Mar 20 2015
Uhm, so where is the actual talk?
Dave commented on Mar 20 2015
I’m really glad this guy is thinking about inequality, but he’s just putting lipstick on a pig. This is the same trickle-down/self regulation argument we’ve heard for decades. He knows public opinion is trending towards higher taxes and hopes to stall the inevitable as long as possible.
Does he think a company can be “Just” by being friendly? By definition, the wealth gap doesn’t shrink without the people towards the bottom gaining a larger share of the wealth than they have right now.
Research shows that empathy decreases as one’s wealth increases, so I’m not holding my breath.
Compassionate conservatism anyone? How did that work out?
fche commented on Mar 20 2015
“By definition, the wealth gap doesn’t shrink without the people towards the bottom gaining a larger share of the wealth than they have right now.”
Ah, you’re forgetting a faster, easier way to get rid of inequality. Kill the rich.
dashone461 commented on Mar 20 2015
Can you please post a link to the video? This is an important talk that I would like to see…. Thank you
Macrocompassion commented on Mar 20 2015
We have been starting off all wrong.
Firstly it is necessary to define a capitalist by what he does, which is also capitalism.
Secondly it is important to say what we used to claim he does, but actually with a better definition (above) the things he actually does not participate in.
Thirdly, because the capitalist interacts with the rest of society, this activity needs more detailed explanation.
1. A CAPITALIST is an agent or entity within our social system whose role is to own durable capital goods (which he has previously bought), and to lend them out to the producers and manufacturers for use (and hire fees). A CAPITALIST gathers the money for this role by issuing a share prospectus for his company and then issues shares in the company in exchange for the money that this attracts. He/she also pays a dividend or interest on the shares, according to how well the hiring business is progressing.
2. It is important to note that a capitalist is not an owner of land because the land was not a man-made item and because its variation in value with time has entirely different characteristics compared to the durable capital goods described above.
3. Also a CAPITALIST is not a producer, even though a director and board of a firm of manufacturers behave like capitalists. This is one of their functions. Thus what we are defining is about activities or functioning roles, not actual people.
To enter into this subject it is very important to explain that real people can take on many roles in our society and that CAPITALISM is one of these roles, but it is not necessarily only what one of the capitals do. Many are producers, land owners, workers, philanthropists, householders, etc.
Reference: “Consequential Macroeconomics–Rationalizing About How Our Society Functions” which is my recently published book, see Amazon book sellers
GARY PAUL commented on Mar 19 2015
WHY IS THIS TED NOT AVAILABLE TO BE VIEWED ??? FINALLY SOME CLEAR THINKING ABOUT CAPITALISM , IE , NOTHING BUT HUGE ACCOUNTING BALANCES AND A DESTROYED ECOLOGY ,COMING TO US ALL VERY SOON !!
BROUGHT TO YOU BY MONEY JUNKIES , CANNOT GET ENOUGH BUT THE OVERDOSE IS JUST AS BAD FOR ALL , NO MATTER HOW BIG YOU FEEL WITH THE SHORT TIME GAIN , INCLUDING TH BIG MONEY JUNKIES . THE PLANET WILL DIE WITH THE SUN BURST MANY EONS FROM NOW. BUT THE CURRENT WORLD PREDATOR WILL FIZZLE AWAY AS EASY AS A PREVIOUS T REX ETC BUT THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS WE ARE IMPLEMENTING OUR OWN DEMISE. EVERYONE WHO HAS ANY SENSE OF THE REAL BIG FUTURE WE ARE CREATING WILL BE WHAT WE SOW. THAT MEANS THAT OUR DEMISE WILL BE OUR OWN CREATION. GOOD FOR YOU ,YES. YOU CAN ALL PRETEND TO BE THE CREATOR OF YOUR WORLD, OUR WORLD. BUT THE VISION DOES NOT NOT SEEM TO BE LONG LIVED ALL YOU GODS, [EXCUSE THE SLIP] PEOPLE WHO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ALL THINGS BUT IN THE LONG RUN JUST END WITH A WHIMPER. A FEW THOUSAND YEARS OF THE DEGRADATION OF ALL THAT WAS HERE THAT TOOK SOME INESTIMABLE TIME ( 6000YEARS OR 14 BILLION YEARS)TO BE HERE FOR US 2 LEGGED GODS OF WONDERMENT TO TRAMPLE IT DOWN.
WOW , WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT. AND OUR PRIDE IN THAT ACCOMPLISHMENT CONTINUES WITH GREATER DISPARITY AND TOTAL WONDER . THIS IS ONE TINY PLANET IN A MILKY WAY,AS WE CALL IT. AND WE ARE ONLY TOO BLIND TO ALL BECAUSE WE ARE GODS OF OUR OWN FALLACY. WHO WILL BE THE GREATEST GOD .
BROUGHT TO ALL BY THE 7 BILLION GODS WHO KNOW EVERYTHING AND NOTHING ABOUT EXISTENCE ON A SMALL BLUE MARBLE , IN A MILKY WAY , WITH NO DIRECTION HOME HERE. JUST CAPITAL DESTRUCTION WHICH IS THE NATURE OF THE 7 BILLION GODS HERE.
jaropa jaropa commented on Mar 21 2015
GARY PAUL, PLEASE SPEAK MORE LOUDLY, VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND.
Tiffany Young commented on Mar 19 2015
Are you going to post or link to the talk? I really want to actually listen, not just read a description.
fche commented on Mar 19 2015
“And income inequality is closely linked to lower life expectancy, literacy and math proficiency, infant mortality, homicides, imprisonment, teenage births, trust among ourselves, obesity, and, finally, social mobility”
Sorry, big fat “citation needed” here. Just because a movie star somewhere is getting rich, others read less, die early, get fat and/or pregnant? Ah well, self-blaming capitalists prefer this “explanation” to some other nonsense spurious correlation.
Jeff Cognomen commented on Mar 19 2015
If you want companies to be just, then they must drop any claims to personhood and not try to influence the democratic process. They must accept and submit to regulation. Organizations like ALEC that write laws for state legislators to pass on behalf of corporations must shut down. All corporate lobbying has to stop. There can’t be any equivocating on this. Otherwise your vision of “just capitalism” isn’t going to work.
Look at a for-prison profit corporation. It’s probably going to strongly support a ‘tough on crime’ politician who will support laws that will mean more people going to – and staying in – prison. In fact, they’ll probably have plenty of suggestions on how to do that, and the politician is going to listen because the billionaires on the board of directors are paying for the politician’s time through their support.
That’s where laws like “three strikes and you’re out” come from, and then we get scenarios like someone spending their entire life behind bars for shoplifting items of less than $5 on three separate occasions, and probably doing labor for cents per hour or day. 93% of paints and paintbrushes are made by prison labor, and that’s just one area where we’re locking people up to support the system. It’s driven by a profit motive injecting itself in our political process.
seandetra commented on Mar 19 2015
preposterous
failedevolution commented on Mar 19 2015
“Many still believe in the myth of the free market. They have an ideal situation in mind where everyone will be free from the state suppression and the free market will drive societies and individuals to balance and prosperity. It’s just an illusion because in reality the game is more rigged than ever. We are not talking about capitalism, not even neoliberalism. We are talking about the new global, brutal feudalism!”
http://bit.ly/XFjGMQ
jaropa jaropa commented on Mar 19 2015
Wait, is this The Onion?
On which planet does Mr. Paul Tudor Jones the 2nd reside?!?! Trusting that “the free market will take hold and reward the companies that are the most just”?! Yes, because trickle-down economics has been proven time and time again to be good for society, good for poor people, and in now way has decreasing taxes on wealthy elites contributed to the upward consolidation of wealth in this country over the last 40 years. And deregulation? Why look how much it helped the banking industry in recent years!
anandroy commented on Mar 18 2015
Reblogged this on anandroy.
Jack commented on Mar 18 2015
Reblogged this on Launch Port – The Open Door Business Blog.