Preview the web site for the documentary Beating the Bottom Line (PBS 1998)

http://www.pbs.org/bottomline/html/beating.html

"Democracy didn't work without certain rights being guaranteed, what we call the Bill of Rights. And in my view, there is somewhat of a Bill of Rights to capitalism. You just simply must take into consideration all of the various interests in a society in an enterprise. And if you fail to do that, capitalism will fail."

-John Dasburg, CEO of Northwest Airlines

Web Resources:

The Industrial Heartland Labor Capital Project, Chaired by United Steelworkers of America Secretary-Treasurer Leo Gerard, is developing labor investment strategies in the U.S. similar to Canada's Solidarity Fund, explored in Surviving the Bottom Line.

http://www.uswa.org/heartland/title.htm

National Center for Employee Ownership.

http://www.nceo.org

II. Look at the web sites linked in your text as well as those on the class page. Discuss the appropriate role(s) for government in the economy as well as the appropriate role(s) for corporations as citizens. Taking into consideration questions of fairness and efficiency(raised in chapter 6), which of the two is superior, and why? Is capitalism compatible with democracy? Is a "Bill of Rights to capitalism" appropriate for the modern political economy? If so, what would be its principle features? If not, how would you deal with the current inequities of the system in a non-governmental manner? (2-3 pages)