Is The Free Enterprise System in America at Risk?

Bernie Marcus, co-founder and ex-CEO of The Home Depot, recently discussed with me on The CEO TV Show why he believes the free enterprise system in America is under attack and at risk.

Marcus explained that the current climate in America makes him feel that the free enterprise system is under attack by the media and “Occupy Wall Street” protesters are monopolizing the message without the media giving balance to the issues.

“CEOs suddenly became the enemy. Why? Because people don’t have jobs. Well we’re the ones who create jobs! These young people are frustrated and that’s understandable, but blaming CEOs is like killing the golden goose. They look at us as being the powerful ones, and then think that the government – the largest and most powerful force in this country – is somehow the solution. But if we CEOs don’t succeed in establishing and growing our businesses, there are no meaningful jobs and even the government is affected.”

Why don’t more CEOs speak out on this issue?

“Because CEOs have been intimidated and they no longer have the courage to speak up. Their focus is on maintaining their businesses over the long run, rather than engaging in political discourses – and that’s understandable, too. For me, I’m retired from my business, but we have to speak out, and we have to explain the process. So I and a group of fellow CEOs have created the Job Creators Alliance, www.jobcreatorsalliance.org, which is now a growing movement to tell the facts of life to the general public, and to get our message out there that we are the ones who create growth and jobs in our society, not the government, and that we ultimately are the ones who will solve our economic problems, not the government.”

Find out more about the  Job Creators Alliance in our video interview with Bernie Marcus

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