The West Continues to Rot at the Core as it Obsesses Over the Short-term
The stock market, by and large, is a farce.
This is not to say that it does not have a purpose, because undoubtedly it does. This cannot and will not be denied, except by those who identify themselves as having anarchist traits.
Yet, it is still a farce. It is corrupt, it is short-sighted and it is riddled with problems. But in our “semi” capitalistic system, it is what we have. And we have to make the best of it.
This, however, does not stop us from striving to improve it. In fact, I believe this should be a major goal of Western society as a whole. The stock market, in tandem with the free market, has led to the most powerful economic engine this world has ever seen. Even if it is now riddled with disease, it is and will be for the foreseeable future a juggernaut in the economic landscape.
We should constantly strive to weed out corruption within the system and work towards improving the function of the markets as a whole. However, one issue that has once again been pushed to the forefront is the fact that Western markets are incredibly short sighted.
Many legal and financial experts have argued this point for years. The stock market’s obsession over quartering reporting has pushed it to its breaking point, driving companies to overemphasize the short-term, rather than the long-term, health of the company as a whole.
This irrational way of thinking has driven many companies to the point of bankruptcy, as many CEOs and executives know they have a short term life span within any given company. This drives them to push short-term profits, hoping to beat the next quarterly consensus—driving the price of shares up, and thus their golden parachute packages along with it.
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