BIG

As the egg shortage shows, the corporate world is a Soviet-ized mess, and everyone knows it. It’s time to actually make our systems work again.

None of these arguments are wholly wrong, and there are things we can learn from Trump, Musk, Klein, Lowrey, et al. But as I’m looking into markets, it seems like the real way forward is to re-examine the underpinnings of American business, and rejigger the relationship between finance and production so we’re doing real things again instead of lying about them. We have to build institutions, not tear them down.

There are plenty of business leaders, like Tim Sweeney at Epic Games, Michael Beckham at Simple Modern, Blake Scholl at Boom Supersonic trying to do so, working to re-shore and innovate, or pharmacists, doctors, grocers, et al trying to serve their communities. There are even people in private equity who get the problem. I know and talk to people across many industries, from electric utilities to mail management software. Ultimately, it’s time to rebuild American business, and there are a lot of people who want to do so.