Never been to the city, but I think The Chicago School of Economics did a great disservice to civilization. Its basic idea was that any economic institution such as a corporation _ by extension any institution at all _ should be stripped to its core function and mercilessly concentrate on only that. In the case of a company, only make money and ignore all other distractions.
It’s a kind of religious argument to assume that there can be only one core purpose in any human activity. Even a simple goal of making money, for example, has questions as to how much, for how long, and under what circumstances_ not to mention at what sacrifice. People, after all, are free to ignore the products of a business they detest.
But the main problem is in considering any human institution as a pure machine. A steam engine may be tuned to perfection but any tribe _ which is what any team becomes _ is a constant balancing act. Paying employees “too much” may lead to a short-term loss of profit, but stabilize revenue in the long term by increasing retention.
And as far as society as a whole, the Chicago model can be corrosive. Institutions blinded by pure purpose easily become as evil and corrupted as any political tyranny. And just as abusive to anyone inside or outside its reach.
The idea that people can be reduced to cogs and gears, and that their desires can be simply located and easily bottled, has been one of the worst notions of the previous century. Chicago Economics is a dangerous delusion.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 