10 Comments

I still remember years ago a woman at swimming pool saying "we need Trump because he's a businessman" --man she was wrong -she was really really wrong -she was so damn wrong!

Expand full comment
Mar 22, 2023Liked by Oliver Willis

YES YES YES! But HOW could you have left Kal for a week? Just....how....? ::::sniffle:::::

Expand full comment

I think this may be the first time I came for the article rather than the Kal-El photo. (Not really, but almost) :D

You are speaking my language with this one. I have been arguing this case for years every time someone puts forth the “we need to run the government like a business, let’s elect that businessman for president.” No. Just NO.

This is not how this works; this is not how any of this works.

Expand full comment

Beginning to think you do all the work and Kal is kind of lazy

Expand full comment

Evidently a lot of businesses know how to cheat and avoid taxes!!!

Expand full comment

I just retired from a 30-year corporate career in which I found fulfillment and success. On the surface, the business myth should resonate with me. But it doesn’t. In my experience, businesses are not inherently efficient and are not incubators of great decision-making. Big corporations are bureaucratic and composed of competing fiefdoms. Most are dependent on their middle management, not the C-Suite. When a company succeeds, it’s because it combines strong leadership and exceptionally effective employees with blind luck. I often wonder what this country would be like if Americans accepted the pre-eminent role of luck in life. “With domineering hand she moves the turning wheel...”

Expand full comment

YES! The thing that I find most galling about the "business is so much smarter than government" horseshit is the overwhelming proportion of businesses that FAIL. How many billions of dollars get invested in failures for every successful billion dollar company? We always point to the winners who were just smart enough and just lucky enough to succeed. And we ignore that scores of failures behind that one success. Is it really efficient at a macro level? Maybe, maybe not.

Expand full comment

The businessman has no clothes, exposé at 5.

Expand full comment

Excellent, excellent, excellent article!!

Expand full comment