“Good profit can only result from creating value for the consumer. It is the manifestation of the entrepreneur’s respect for what the customer values.”
– Charles Koch, Good Profit (New York: Crown Business, 2015), p. 244.
In his previous book, The Science of Success, Charles Koch, classical-liberal CEO of Koch Industries, Inc., described heroic, moral capitalism as “maximizing long-term profitability for the business by creating real value in society while always acting lawfully and with integrity.”[1] Real value to Koch comes from the economic means of consumer service, not the political means of special government favor (see here).
Part I yesterday shared some Koch quotations on cronyism from years past. Today, quotations from Koch’s just released book are presented that clearly spell out his views of cronyism in the mixed economy (what has been called political capitalism):
“Good profit comes from making a contribution in society–not from corporate welfare or other ways of taking advantage of people.”…
“Today, many governments give special treatment to a favored few businesses that eagerly accept those favors. This is the essence of cronyism…. One obvious example of this involves wind farms. Most cannot turn a profit without the costly subsidies the government provides.”
– Charles G. Koch, “The Importance of Economic Freedom.” August 17, 2012.
Classical-liberal entrepreneur Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries, Inc., valued at $100 billion, is one of the most intellectual business leaders in the United States, if not the world. He also takes the prize as the most trenchant critic of cronyism (rent-seeking) where business representatives lobby for special government favor.
Charles Koch’s views are based on his extensive study of the theory and practice of social cooperation for mutual gain–and prosperous societies. His verdict for private property, free markets, and the rule of law–and against government intervention–is long held.
This post reproduces a front-page story in the New York Times business section that excitedly reported a breakthrough with solar energy as represented by a heady energy company named Enron. Formed in the mid-1980s, Enron had just entered into the solar business and was destined to revitalize–if not save–the U.S. wind industry just a few years later.
Good press, for a half century now, has created an Enron-like illusion of the coming competitiveness and profitability of solar and wind energies for on-grid electricity. Basic energy physics explains why the sun’s (dilute) flow cannot compete against the sun’s stored (dense) energy embedded in natural gas, coal, and oil.
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…“Federal officials, aware that solar power breakthroughs have shined and faded almost as often as the sun, say the Enron project could introduce commercially competitive technology without expensive Government aid.”