Things we do wrong, but also stupidly

So, one of the themes that we're going to undoubtedly return to a lot (and, I mean, a lot) in the new-ish incarnation of this blog is the idea that we do some stuff really, incredibly stupidly. And that until we fix that basic idea, any of the work we do on the topic is going to be fundamentally flawed and prone to fall over, like a million-dollar-mansion built right over a swamp.

Undoubtedly, we'll end up in politics eventually, but let's start tonight with economics. In a fairly simple post about the joys of Amazon as an unusual-and-successful (and unusually successful) corporate entity, old friend and frequent link-subject Matt Yglesias has a small throwaway line at the end:

But this really is an idea that cuts against the basic logic of modern shareholder capitalism.

The short version of the argument preceding this line is that Amazon, in focusing on customer satisfaction to the point of actually cutting pretty deeply into profits, is completely unusual in modern American corporate culture.

But, look - Amazon pays its employees very well. I bet Bezos makes plenty of money. And its share price does fine; as Yglesias notes, it's P/E ratio is astoundingly high. Plus, they offer completely insanely satisfying customer service; when I have to pay to ship back something defective, Amazon gives me a shipping credit. Sometimes, when I want to return something, they just say 'keep it', and credit me the money back.

I bet that Amazon makes a ton of money off of me in a year. And I'm happy to spend it there! Why is this not the goal of every American company?

If, as Yglesias notes, this cuts against the basic logic of modern shareholder capitalism, then modern shareholder capitalism sucks. It's bad for customers, it's bad for employees, which means it's bad for the majority of people of whom the American economy is made up, which means that it can't win in the long run against other, competing systems that work better for the people in them.

If we don't recognize that this insane focus on quarterly profits is inherently unsustainable, in the long run, any changes we try to make to the American economy will eventually sink into the bog, along with the rest of the economy.