Panel Discussion Focuses on State of Business
By Jan Travers
The Capital College
community recently got a chance to hear
how the military, unions and
government impact on business.
The panel discussion, held
October 26, was the last program in the
week-long activities honoring John
Vartan, 1987 Alumni Fellow.
The optimistic discussion was led by
Ca ital Time s
Editor-in-Chief Jan Travers Managing Editor Michele Hart
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Vartan, acting as moderator, Major
General Howard Graves, commandant-
U.S. Army War college, J. Thomas
Menaker, attorney at law, and George W.
Gekas, U.S. House of Representatives.
Presenting the military
viewpoint, Graves said since World War
II there has been a changing order in the
military, political, and economic power
in the nations of the world. "These
changes have increased the capacity of
the smaller nations to exert military and
economic presence," said Graves. With
this recognition an interdependence of
resources has occurred. For example,
Graves said, "Who would say in 1987
we would see a Middle East country hit
one of our ships with a pilot flying a
French Mirage Bomber." We are seeing
an age where assembling and
manufacturing of American goods can be
done in other nations.
The key lesson learned in the
military, according to Graves, is that to
exist in this kind of world it is
important to understand what the other
"order" is like and to understand them.
"The military has learned this
and I believe the business community
can, too. We must learn the value of
our competitors, their practices, needs
and languages so we can understand
them," said Graves.
Failure to keep pace with
foreign nations can be blamed in part on
labor unions, according to Menaker.
"Countries with more enlightened labor
policies, like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan,
despite their own economic problems,
have pushed America out of
competitiveness," said Menaker.
He continued that unions failed
to grow with competitive needs of this
country and in turn this has created a
service oriented country.
Within 20 years Menaker
predicts workers in American industry
will be facing a revitalized work ethic
and America will again be competitive.
"American industry is on the verge of a
new partnership with organized labor and
with non-organized employees," said
Menaker.
However, an area of concern to
business at this time is the large number
of labor laws being born. "Laws impose
on business an enormous compliance
burden. What used to require one person
in a company now requires a staff," said
Menaker. The compliance is expensive
and adds to the cost of products in the
marketplace, said Menaker.
Gekas, defending the role of
government in business, explained that
to have political freedom within America
there must be economic freedom. "There
is a love and marriage between them.
One can't exist without the other," said
Gekas.
According to Gekas, the
government has entered to save or create
economic freeom and not to impede it.
"The role of the government
has become more diverse in its
involvement , nevertheless it still has
the job of nuturing economic freedom to
allow the spirit of entrepreneurship of
free American citizens to join in
whatever enterprise the future will
bring," Gekas said.