Abstract

As the ‘golden age of American capitalism’ drew to a close in the 1970s, major U.S. manufacturing companies mobilised politically to defend their long-standing hegemony. Despite notable policy victories concerning labour, regulation, and fiscal policy, the self-appointed ‘mouthpieces’ of U.S. industry failed to cohere around a clear agenda to confront the decline of U.S. manufacturing. By considering the trade positions promoted by the Business Roundtable, this article suggests that corporate elites misdiagnosed their own weaknesses and thus mobilised around policy preferences that quickly became outdated. The political and intellectual legacy of earlier battles ultimately prevented the Business Roundtable from developing or defending a pro-active industrial policy. By evaluating this confused rhetoric and stubborn adherence to antiquated analysis, the article highlights a crucial irony at the heart of modern business activism: the very political vision that had proved so important to their initial mobilisation ultimately hamstrung firms’ efforts to mitigate deindustrialisation.

摘要

随着“美国资本主义的黄金时代”在1970年代接近尾声，美国主要的制造公司在政治上动员起来捍卫其长期霸权。尽管在劳力，监管和财政政策方面取得了明显的政策胜利，但自给自足的美国工业“口中之笔”未能围绕一个明确的议程来应对美国制造业的下滑。通过考虑“商业圆桌会议”提倡的贸易状况，本文表明，企业精英们错误地诊断了自己的弱点，因此动员了迅速过时的政策偏好。早期战争的政治和思想遗产最终阻止了商业圆桌会议制定或捍卫积极的产业政策。通过评估这种对陈词滥调和顽固的过时分析的坚持，