The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State, Raghuram Rajan
“I have been very impressed by The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave Community Behind by Raghuram Rajan.
The real nugget of this book is balancing the power and scope of three players in the global tapestry in which a company operates—namely government, community, and business. This balance changes, as the author has shown, longitudinally over a long period of time.
COVID-19 has necessitated a radical rebalancing. Governments almost exponentially and with warp speed have increased the intensity and scope of their participation. Communities are speaking. They have found their voice on inequality and race, and they are being heard. The maximizers of shareholder value are bending. They are accepting public–private partnership as the new game (as in vaccines, public health, and infrastructure).
This is new. It is evolving, and fast. It is here to stay. No business leader can afford to ignore it.
The book is meticulously researched with specifics the author uses to narrate the volatility of this balance over more than a century. Readers need to superimpose on it the new waves of tensions between countries (US/China, China/India), and drastic reduction of mechanisms governing global trade.
I think every business leader must read this book, digest it, and test their strategic plan against it.”
