Capitalism has a problem. So says University of Tulsa alumnus Matthew King, founder and CEO of Our COMMON Foundation.
King (B.A. ’98), who grew up in west Tulsa before attending UTulsa for his undergraduate degree in political science and earning his doctorate at the University of Cambridge, said skepticism about capitalism is rising worldwide, especially among younger generations. In fact, he said, a 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer survey found that 56% of people globally believe capitalism does more harm than good in the world.
“We’re at a crossroads. Some argue that we should ditch capitalism,” he told a roomful of students, faculty and Tulsa-area residents during a recent talk in the Collins College of Business. “I disagree.”
Instead, King said, people should ask how capitalism can evolve to meet today’s challenges.
For many Americans, he added, capitalism seems to empower a few while leaving the rest behind, a notion he said he experienced firsthand while growing up surrounded by oil refineries, addiction, and joblessness.
In some ways, it’s little wonder that those statistics reveal what they do: Real wages for workers haven’t increased in more than 50 years, King said. At the same time, wildlife species are disappearing at alarming rates. “We’ve lost 73% of wildlife on Earth in the last 50 years alone,” he continued.
“Decades of prioritizing short-term profits over the collective well-being of the planet has widened inequality, leaving many people struggling while the rich thrive,” he said. “The top 1% now hold more wealth than the bottom 90% combined. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. This inequality breeds social unrest, with many calling for fundamental changes to our political and economic systems.”
The solution, according to King, is empowerment, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Capitalism thrives when people are empowered, he added, ensuring access to education, health care, food and housing, while fostering innovation. “It’s time for capitalism to evolve again,” he said.
It’s happening with new ideas, including conscious capitalism, inclusive capitalism and B Corps like Ben and Jerry’s and Patagonia that benefit people and the planet simultaneously.
“By focusing on more than just money, they also consider people, communities and nature essential to building healthy economies,” King said. “It focuses less on the economy as separate pieces, and more on how everything – people, businesses and nature – is connected.”
Growing up, King said he was often taught to pull himself up by the bootstraps, which sometimes made him feel alone. But nobody is on their own, he added. When he faced a life-threatening, rare, and aggressive blood cancer with less than a 15% chance of survival, he realized he did have a community: friends, colleagues, neighbors and other supporters.
“I should have known cooperation is in our DNA,” said King, who has completed learning expeditions to over 45 countries and lived in five. “For millions of years, it’s been vital to our survival. Isolation meant death, which is why the ‘go-it-alone’ mentality caused me so much anxiety.”
UTulsa, he added, was the first place he felt empowered. “The opportunities to learn and get involved here were beyond anything I could have ever imagined,” King said.
“We must continue fostering cultures that empower people to think critically and act innovatively to secure the future of capitalism. Capitalism can no longer focus solely on financial gain. It must focus on people, the planet, and peace for humanity to survive the next 1,000 years.”
If you’d like to learn more, you can read King’s article written as a features correspondent for the BBC: “Why the next stage of capitalism is coming.”
The public lecture was sponsored by The University of Tulsa’s Collins College of Business, Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, JOLT program, Honors College, and Oklahoma Center for the Humanities. The following morning, King graciously met with a group of students from UTulsa’s Honors College to discuss the future of capitalism.