Marketplace of Ideas Blog

Tenneco Inc. chairman and CEO Gregg Sherrill, in the Wall Street Journal:

Business, in the dual role that politicians try to fashion for it — providing funds to government, and all too often serving as a scapegoat — has taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House. For the most part, the business community has remained relatively silent. In my view, we simply have not tried hard enough to make our case. …

The free enterprise system, hard-wired into this country's DNA, has created more wealth and lifted more people out of poverty than any other system ever devised by human beings. For the entire history of our nation, people from all over the world have come here for the opportunity to succeed on their own merits.

It would be a profound mistake to grow government’s size in a way that would fundamentally shift its level of involvement in our overall economy. Other countries have tried this strategy in various ways, especially over the last century. The results have often been negative, and at times disastrous. None has come close to the levels of growth and individual prosperity driven by the American free enterprise system.

The truth is that when it comes to the things that define our society like energy, mobility and shelter, government can do nothing without the cooperation of business and industry. Nor, for that matter, can business function in this fiercely competitive global marketplace without the appropriate regulation and incentives that government can provide.

Expanded trade, competitive tax policies, a coherent energy policy, a realistic regulatory approach — it is in these areas that our government can most effectively ensure that we maintain our pre-eminent position in the world. At its best, government is the guarantor of our freedom to create, to lead and to innovate.

Political attacks will only intensify in an election year, and they could result in serious economic damage. The danger is that people will buy into the false perception that government can fix our current crisis, which will lead to policies making our economic recovery more difficult. I think we all need to take a step back and put partisan politics aside. We need to work together to come up with solutions that reflect the input of many voices, including business.