The public's attitude toward capitalism: 1980-1989

Business Horizons,  Sept-Oct, 1991  by Robert A. Peterson,  George Kozmetsky,  Gerald Albaum

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Moreover, the differences between these two demographic groups increased over the decade.

For example, in 1989 about two-thirds of the individuals with less than a high school degree believed capitalism must be altered before any improvements in human welfare can be realized. At the same time, though, only 44 percent of the individuals with a college degree held this belief, a difference of 23 percentage points.

The Figure shows the absolute changes in agreement percentages overall as well as by gender, age group, and education level. The greatest shifts occurred for the groups most positive toward capitalism in 1980: males and individuals 45-54 years of age. Males, for example, evinced statistically significant decrements in percentage agreement for 13 of the 16 items.

As implied previously, one of the most intriguing response shifts occurred for the item "Capitalism must be altered before any significant improvements in human welfare can be realized." Table 2 reports 1980 and 1989 agreement percentages for the demographic groups investigated for this item. Overall agreement with this item increased by 14 percentage points over the decade (see Table 1), but the shift differed considerably among the demographic groups studied, from less than 4 percentage points (for individuals 55 to 64 years of age) to 21 percentage points (for males). These percentages provide direct, even dramatic, evidence of the public's change in attitude toward capitalism.

In general, the data suggest that whereas the attitude of middle-class Americans toward capitalism was relatively favorable in the 1980s, this attitude was somewhat less favorable in 1989 than in 1980. Interestingly enough, the shift was apparently driven by changes in the attitude held by males. The attitude of females toward capitalism appears to be relatively stable over the time period studied. There were no significant differences between the agreement percentages of females in 1980 and 1989. In 1989 males were considerably more skeptical of capitalism than they were in 1980. Indeed, in 1989 their responses were very similar to those of females, who were significantly less positive toward capitalism than were males in 1980, and slightly less positive in 1989. Why males evinced such a major shift is not known. Obviously the shift requires further investigation, because its consequences have important implications for both business and society.

The demise of capitalism has been predicted and announced by sociologists, philosophers, and critics for many years. Heilbroner, for example, believed that traditional capitalism would eventually be replaced by planned capitalism. Schumpeter predicted that the more educated elites would teach the masses to resent the capitalistic system as it matured. He also predicted that as capitalism matured, business people would have less will to defend it.

This was, in his view, the way capitalism would disappear. The present results appear to contradict Schumpeter's prediction.