[eikenberry]

That's not capitalism, it's our culture around capitalism. There is nothing inherent to capitalism that stresses short term growth vs. long term growth. For example much of the push for short term growth comes from the stock market, but the stock market (or public ownership at all) is in no way required for capitalism to work (and IMO it would probably be better without it).

[flukus]

> There is nothing inherent to capitalism that stresses short term growth vs. long term growth

It rewards people that focus on short term growth and punishes people that think long term, that sounds pretty inherent to me.

Just like the human self interest that allows capitalism to thrive short term thinking is another human quirk it exploits.

[s73v3r_]

Sorry, but that is entirely captialism. You don't get to take core aspects of the system and say it's not really part of the system.

[kurczynski]

False. Capitalism: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

[boon]

It's the government's requirements for filing 10-Ks and 10-Qs that generate this type of behavior. Plenty of examples out there where capital-raising efforts, and therefore investment decisions are stymied by markets that are driven by quarterly government reporting.

Some companies have been able to fight it off and really put long-term profitability into place (Apple seems like a reasonable example of this), but it is the exception, not the rule, and many times does not last long.