American democratic capitalism is in imminent danger. More than forty years ago, a dangerous decline began that has created an unprecedented state of economic disparity. While the rich are getting richer faster than ever, the middle-class family has fallen so far behind it would take three generations to recover – perhaps even longer in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The moment to rethink our economy and embark on a journey to repair our broken system is now.
Roger L. Martin – former Dean of the Rotman School of Management and the world’s #1 management thinker (Thinkers50) – believes the problem is that we view our economy as a machine that can be perfected by pursuing increasing levels of efficiency. In his new book When More Is Not Better, Martin argues that we have relentlessly pursued efficiency at the expense of resilience, turning efficiency into a destructive force that has produced an unequal society and a fragile economy. That fragility makes our economy more vulnerable to shocks and brutally undermines our capacity to deal with catastrophic events like the pandemic.
In the book, Martin reveals the dark side of efficiency, providing evidence, rigorous economic analysis, and insight to demonstrate that our constant effort to make the economic machine more efficient means fewer bigger winners and plenty left behind.