Summary of David Gelles's The Man Who Broke Capitalism

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president with the slogan Let’s Make America Great Again. The new president’s economic policy, Reaganomics, prioritized lower taxes, decreased regulation, and a favorable attitude toward Wall Street.

#2 When Welch took over as CEO, he was very different from Jones. He was impatient, impulsive, and crass. He spoke with a thick Boston accent, and when he grew angry, a stutter flared up. He loathed hierarchy and bureaucracy, and didn’t care what people thought of him as long as he was making money for the company.

#3 In the mid-1970s, Welch went on tour with a GE joint venture in Japan, where he was shocked by the manufacturing process. When America’s standing in the world was questioned in 1980, Welch and Jones wrote a letter to shareholders acknowledging the need for urgent change.

#4 Jack Welch, the iconic chairman of GE, drastically overcorrected when he took over. He abandoned American manufacturing and began shutting down factories around the country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822546912

IRB Media

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Insights on David Gelles's The Man Who Broke Capitalism

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president with the slogan Let’s Make America Great Again. The new president’s economic policy, Reaganomics, prioritized lower taxes, decreased regulation, and a favorable attitude toward Wall Street.

#2

When Welch took over as CEO, he was very different from Jones. He was impatient, impulsive, and crass. He spoke with a thick Boston accent, and when he grew angry, a stutter flared up. He loathed hierarchy and bureaucracy, and didn’t care what people thought of him as long as he was making money for the company.

#3

In the mid-1970s, Welch went on tour with a GE joint venture in Japan, where he was shocked by the manufacturing process. When America’s standing in the world was questioned in 1980, Welch and Jones wrote a letter to shareholders acknowledging the need for urgent change.

#4

Jack Welch, the iconic chairman of GE, drastically overcorrected when he took over. He abandoned American manufacturing and began shutting down factories around the country.

#5

General Electric was a company that Welch wanted to blow up. It was the culmination of nearly a century’s worth of innovative engineering breakthroughs and careful financial stewardship. The devices they invented and commercialized ushered in modern life as we know it.

#6

During the 1920s and 30s, Gerard Swope, the chief executive of GE, practiced what he called welfare capitalism, using the company’s vast resources to take exceptional care of its employees.

#7

The Golden Age of Capitalism, which lasted from the postwar boom to the stagflation of the 1970s, was characterized by many great American employers.

#8

In the Golden Age, companies were not just talking a good game; they were actually sharing their profits with their employees. From