Okay, call me a wonk, but I just finished a great 1956 book called The American Business Creed. The authors, four economists and Harvard professors, examine “the ideology of American business, as it is revealed in the public statements of business leaders [and] the institutional advertisements” of corporations and trade associations.

I expected a litany of cartoonish justifications for self-interest and Babbitt-like conformity. But to my surprise, many components of the creed were genuinely insightful.

What’s Right?

Let’s start with the elements that still hold up and with which I agree. In their chapter “The Values of a Good Society,” the authors identify several core principles that U.S. business leaders believed were essential to a strong America:

1. Individualism With Moral Responsibility and Freedom

This idea suggests that individuals in business should act according to moral norms and be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions. Check! It also emphasizes pursuing individual goals without regard for the opinions of others. Check! That’s how entrepreneurs build big things.

2. Materialism and Productivity

Ah, music to my ears. The creed affirms that “material advantages are an essential part of the good society.” But it explicitly rejects “sybaritic enjoyment of wealth.” Instead, it supports the active pursuit of material success through productivity. Check! We’ve come a long way from this—at least in today’s U.S. discourse, where materialism is blamed for climate change and productivity is said to destroy jobs. Yet on the other hand, too many people still make way too much money.

3. Practical Realism

The creed warns that “we disregard the basic laws of human nature at our peril.” Theories are one thing; pragmatism is another. A present-day example is Universal Basic Income, which ignores a basic fact of human nature: Many people will choose not to work if they don’t have to. Check!

4. The Continuing Goal of Progress

The creed champions a constant dissatisfaction with the existing state of affairs, indicating that we shouldn’t be content with America’s material greatness. Instead, we should be engaged in a “continuous revolution” of technical and material advancement. Check!

5. Optimism and the Spirit of Adventure

“The business[person] or the citizen who finds a new and effective way of doing things is a hero.” Check! Unfortunately, today’s innovators are more often vilified than lionized. The authors also warn that “the kind of pessimistic caution which favors a secure place in preference to a challenging but insecure one” is not what made the United States successful. Check!But that spirit feels lost today, with society increasingly organized around risk aversion.

6. Democracy and Universalism

The business creed insists on “the fundamentals of equal opportunity and resists inequalities based on ascribed status.” Check! And it clearly prioritizes the welfare of all Americans over vague notions of global welfare. Check! That last bit, by the way, helps explain the popularity of Trump’s “MAGA” message—it pushes back against a society and business class that often seem more committed to globalism than national interest.

7. Service and Social Responsibility

Business managers, the creed says, must support service to society. Check! But that value seems to have eroded in the aftermath of the shareholder value movement.

What's Wrong?

There’s a lot to admire in this mid-century business creed. In many ways, both the U.S. business community and society at large would benefit from revisiting and embracing its core values. But there’s one serious flaw: its absolutist take on individualism.

As the authors note, the creed includes the belief that “no business is better than any other business because it produces a more worthy commodity.” They go on to say that the creed entails “not wanting government to impose any requirements.”

That may have worked when the United States dominated the global economy. But it’s a liability today. If we’re serious about winning the ongoing techno-economic war against China, both society and the state must be willing to accept that:

1. Some industries matter more than others.
2. Government has a role to play in guiding outcomes by imposing certain requirements on businesses.

The aerospace industry is more important than the hospitality industry. The biopharmaceutical industry is more important than the beer brewing industry (as hard as that is for a craft beer lover like myself to admit).

What Now?

America would be better off if we could revitalize much of the business creed from the 1950s, except for its rigid commitment to radical freedom of choice and its resistance to coordination and prioritization.

To win against China, we’ll need all the original values described above, plus a business community that embraces a national industrial strategy focused on advanced industries.