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‘Woke’ capitalism is the new villain of the right. It’s also the only way forward | Will Hutton
Ignoring stakeholders has led Britain to where it is today. After Covid, it’s time to reset
British capitalism is in trouble. The UK stock market, populated by too many legacy companies with scarcely a major hi-tech company in sight, has been the worst performing among advanced countries since 2000. Brexit has deepened the crisis. Our companies, vulnerably cheap by international standards, have become easy prey for takeover merchants from all over the globe who are rarely benign stewards. Too few great new companies are coming through to take their place.
Yet, by the criteria of the political right, the UK should be a capitalist beacon. Regulation in Britain – from the world of work to product standards – is light, applied weakly and is too often close to non-existent. Companies and capital are taxed modestly by international standards. But, stubbornly, the growth rate shrinks as investment and productivity stagnate. Could it be, pray, that the dominant rightwing intellectual paradigm is wrong?
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