The Fire of Invention

Civil Society and the Future of the Coporation

The Fire of Invention

Civil Society and the Future of the Coporation

Michael Novak (Author)

Textbook

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) £23.94

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) £23.94

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) £23.94

£23.94

Description

Many Americans today consider the corporation to be the number one public enemy. Downsizing, corporate greed, an exclusive focus on the needs of shareholders at the expense of workers-the list of complaints from the left and right is long and growing. In this penetrating and insightful book, Michael Novak, regarded by some as America's foremost social thinker, and author of such internationally acclaimed bestsellers as The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism and Business as a Calling, argues that these critics ask the corporation to be something it is not, and they overlook the functions that it performs best-the cultivation of civil society, the fortification of democracy, and the elevation of the poor. Borrowing a phrase from Abraham Lincoln, Novak shows how the corporation weds "the fire of invention" to the "fuel of interest" to generate a creative, dynamic, and civic-minded citizenry. The Fire of Invention examines and illuminates many crucial debates: What is the purpose of the corporation? How should a corporation be governed? How much corporate independence from government regulation is desirable? How can businesses prepare for the complex economic and ethical challenges of the next century? This important book will fundamentally change the way Americans think about big business.

Chapter 1 Introduction: A Spirit Born from the Sea
Part 2 Part One: The Future of the Corporation
Chapter 3 What Is a Corporation?
Chapter 4 The Corporation and Civil Society
Chapter 5 The Stakeholder Society
Chapter 6 The end of the Republican Experiment?
Part 7 Part Two: The Fire of Invention, the Fuel of Interest
Chapter 8 The Grand Historical Adventure
Chapter 9 From Lincoln to John Paul II
Chapter 10 Some Clarifications
Chapter 11 Five Disputed Questions
Chapter 12 But Isn't Genetics Different?
Chapter 13 Does a Patent Regime Protect Private Interests or Public Good?
Chapter 14 Conclusion
Part 15 Part Three: On Corporate Governance
Chapter 16 What Is the Business Corporation?
Chapter 17 Executive Energy
Chapter 18 The Ant and the Elephant
Chapter 19 Why Do Firms Exist?
Chapter 20 Pirates!
Chapter 21 Mutual Funds and Pension Funds
Chapter 22 Looking for the Right Stuff
Chapter 23 A Well-Lighted Place
Chapter 24 On Envy: "Thou Shalt Not Covet"
Chapter 25 Two Types of Inequality
Chapter 26 Justifying Unequal Compensation
Chapter 27 Against Appeasement
Chapter 28 A Cheerful View at the End of a Sorry Century
Chapter 29 Appendix: The Legend of the Bay Steed
Chapter 30 Notes
Chapter 31 Index

Product details

Published	01 Jan 1999
Format	Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition	1st
Extent	192
ISBN	9780742580077
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Michael Novak

This book must be read by anyone serious about the future of America. Its ideas will change the lives of millions.

Robert L. Dilenschneider, The Dilenschneider Group, Inc.
A profound experience awaits the reader.

Daniel P. Moynihan, United States Senator, DNY
In The Fire of Invention, Michael Novak does what we have come to expect of him: write on matters of capitalism and corporate governance in an eloquent, illuminating and morally serious manner. He understands as few others do the great promise, as well as the limits and temptations, of democratic capitalism.

William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, author of The Book of Virtues
In The Fire of Invention, Michael Novak reminds us that the business corporation is not merely a necessary evil to be tolerated, but an integral part of our democratic order critical to both civic and public life. He forthrightly rejects trendy attempts to recycle socialist ideas from the 'stakeholder society' to strictures against downsizing, while pointing us to the true sources of creativity in the postindustrial world.

Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man
A must-read book for every CEO.

Roberto C. Goizueta, CEO, The Coca Cola Corporation
This book is a must for every student of freedom, every public policy maker concerned with economic progress, and every business person concerned with the interests of consumers and shareholders alike.

John M. Templeton, M.D., president, John Templeton Foundation