When Suzanne Clark, head of the US Chamber of Commerce, delivered the lobby group’s annual “state of American business” speech in early January, she had a withering message for the country’s political leaders. The Chamber had often remarked with pride that business was the only thing that worked in America, she recalled, but that could not stand: her members needed Washington to work too. “We need a government that can fulfil its role of setting the conditions for our strength and our success,” Clark said. Washington needed to choose governing over gridlock, partner with the private sector and avoid “regulatory overreach”, she elaborated. “It is not the role of government to direct the behaviour of business, redistribute power in our economy, or undermine the competition that fuels free enterprise.”
A decade and a half after Wall Street excesses precipitated a once-in-a lifetime financial crisis, triggering both government bailouts and new regulations, disagreements are raging about how far executives should stray into politicians’ terrain.
Should BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, invest Texan pensioners’ money in oil and gas companies whose activities fuel global warming? Should entertainment group Disney have a voice in debates on what Florida’s schoolchildren learn about same-sex relationships? Should Eli Lilly, the pharmaceuticals group, invest elsewhere if it dislikes Indiana’s strict anti-abortion policies?