Good morning.
Former Dow CEO Andrew Liveris wrote in to dispute Vivek Ramaswamy’s notion, which I quoted yesterday, that “we don’t want capitalism and democracy sharing the same bed. We need a clean divorce.” Says Liveris:
“Capitalism and democracy were always in a marriage. They should not be divorced. Who sets the rules? If we don't see rules in place or the right rules as witnessed by our financial systems melting down in the Great Financial Crisis, or worse still, we allow the fox to watch the hen house in the rule setting process, then we end up with huge unintended consequences.”
Liveris elaborates in his book Leading Through Disruption, which, as I wrote last month, is a vigorous defense of stakeholder capitalism. Looking after the interests of employees, customers, and the communities and world they inhabit, he writes, is not only good business, but a necessity in the modern world.
At Fortune, we agree. That’s why we teamed up with the folks at EVERFI to create the Fortune Impact Initiative, a community of top executives responsible for their company’s efforts to improve their positive impact on society. We’ll be gathering September 12-13 in Atlanta, with corporate leaders including Walmart chief sustainability officer Kathleen McLaughlin, GM chief sustainability officer Kristen Siemen, Cisco chief social impact officer Brian Tippens, Meta chief diversity officer Maxine Williams, Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown and more. I’ll be interviewing former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams at the event. And oh yes, incoming Wheel of Fortune (no relation) host Ryan Seacrest will also be on hand. If you are interested in attending, apply here.
Finally, a note from the CEO summer reading list. I just finished The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which was recommended by Ken Hicks, CEO of Academy Sports. It’s a fascinating and true tale of a guy who decides to deliver beer to a handful of friends fighting in Vietnam and ends up getting caught in Saigon in the middle of the Tet Offensive. The bizarre and delightful buddy story made the 14-hour flight to Abu Dhabi seem half as long.
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
