Thursday, October 2, 2014
Ford Foundation Asks if Capitalism Can be Made to Work Better for Society
In the Ford Forum, the inaugural issue of what appears to be intended as a regular publication “to inspire fresh thinking and constructive dialogue,” Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker poses an interesting question to a number of experts: “Where Markets Lead, Will Justice Follow?” Referring to foundations as products of the capitalist economic system, Walker asks, “How do we support efforts to change a system in which our own grantmaking resources are cultivated? How can we inform a more inclusive capitalism in which free enterprise flourishes and yet—as our mission and values demand—a broader justice prevails?”
Walker is trying to bridge a contradiction in the structure of American philanthropy. Foundations are creatures of the “bounties of the markets” but are challenged “to help individuals and communities become more resilient in the face of market-driven inequality and the social instability and economic insecurity” that are the products of the economic system—along with private foundations like the Ford Foundation....