Allow me a moment, please, to ruminate upon a general topic impacting us all. It has been a tough decade or so for Western, capitalist democracies. There's "this economy," where most of the world would welcome the slow growth we've seen in the U.S. Islamic terror that continues to plague the world, especially the Middle East. (Does anyone remember the time–not so long ago–when Syria was seen as fertile ground for franchising?) A tide of migrants and refugees threatens to overwhelm the world's ability to address their needs. Presidential candidates who want to build walls and end free trade–as if walling us off from the world will solve our problems. Pope Francis coming to the United States and reminding us of our responsibility to our fellow man.
Fact is, we all are probably pretty concerned about the direction of Western, capitalist democracies. The promise of the last 150 years–that the next generation could generally expect to do better than the previous generation–has stopped being the expectation. Some call this the "Middle Class Squeeze". It shows up in many ways, not the least of which is Procter & Gamble abandoning–somewhat– the middle market and targeting products to the high and low ends of the market. But franchising and its repeatable business model is built upon delivering value to the middle market. The squeeze of the middle then negatively effects us all.
I would go farther, in fact, and argue that the middle market squeeze is at the root of the current attacks on franchising from unions, regulators and the courts. Which is why I highly recommend the opinion piece entitled "The Middle Class Squeeze" in Saturday's Wall Street Journal written by Charles Moore. Mr. Moore, a biographer and fan of Margaret Thatcher, is a friend of capitalism. He offers therefore a unique critique of current Western democratic capitalism. His theory is that we have increasingly built societies of "have lesses," if not "have nots," and that many members of our societies see themselves as prisoners of the system they themselves created.
Mr. Moorse offers certain prescriptions. Look for ways to further constrain cheating in markets, as the effects of cheating are corrosive. Recognize that advocating for free and fair markets is not the same as being an apologist for bad business practices. If you own a business, remember that you have responsibilities to consumers, not just shareholders. Take ownership much more seriously by, for example, strengthening shareholders' ability to influence the companies they own.
I am not suggesting here that I agree or disagree with Mr. Moore's ideas. His piece, however, offers us all the opportunity to consider how best to approach the middle class squeeze, something of vital importance to us all.
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