Re: HOMESTEAD: Myth of Employee Ownership

[John Médaille <john@medaille.com>]

At 11:30 AM 1/19/2004 -0800, Michael Bindner wrote:
>This is about what I would expect from Bruce, who I worked with in my 
>younger days on the staff of GOP Senator Roger Jepsen.
>
>What Bruce and the ESOP critics (as well as most ESOP practicitions) is 
>that these firms fail because they don't change their economic 
>assumptions.  Most continue to behave like hierarchical capitalist firms - 
>or else go to far the other way by placating Unions.  If firms change 
>their assumptions and practice system like Value Based Management or my 
>own 21st Century Economics (aka Inter-Independence) their results will 
>differ greatly and they will beat out the capitalist firms which Mr. 
>Bartlet has spent his career defending.

But to say that is to concede Bruce's point, is it not? Namely, that 
"employee ownership" is not, per se, a panacea. In fact, it has to be 
connected to a shift in values and without this, it is just another 
financing scheme that really doesn't change anything.

The original ESOP law was flawed, to say the least. It wasn't really an 
implementation of the Kelso-Adler thesis. It was a great first step, but a 
terrible end-point. Alas, for 30 years, its been treated as an end-point 
rather than a baby step. Hence it is too easy to use the ESOP itself to 
discredit employee ownership. And the CESJ's penchant for congratulating 
themselves on their one victory and suppressing any real discussion has 
worked to ensure that it will continue to be a small movement celebrating 
an ancient and partial victory.


John C. Médaille

"A dead thing can go with the stream...
but only a living thing can go against it."
         -G. K. Chesterton
http://www.medaille.com/distributivism.htm
john@medaille.com

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