The Real World of Interdependence of Governments and Corporations: What We Know vs. What We Teach

Abstract

The conventional wisdom we encounter in public discourse is that governments and the private sector in the United States are separate and hostile. We are told every day that a core political conflict of our time is between governmental and private power, and that these run on incompatible worldviews: politics versus markets. Governments, we are told, are the opposite of markets, and only one of these worldviews offers the best way to organize our lives and solve our problems. Many, perhaps most, Americans share this belief that governments and the private sector have inherently conflicting roles in American society. Textbooks and journalism reinforce this belief by presenting politics and government as sharply separate from private and economic activity. Because of this misunderstanding, much of American public debate is stale and dysfunctional, bickering about symbols and illusions rather than focusing on real choices about the exercise of power. This pattern is likely to continue to 2020 and beyond unless we challenge it and offer more realistic and constructive alternatives. A clearer understanding of the real nature of public and private can lead to revitalized politics and policy agendas at all levels.