His speech writer is erroneously attributing to a system for distributing resources characteristics that are uniquely human.
It's not capitalism that needs to change, it's people that need to change. The market, capitalism's modus operandi, is blind to what may or may not be considered socially responsible and has no interest in being popular.
What the Prime Minister's words really mean is that people should be socially responsible and genuinely popular, specifically people running companies.
Put like that his ideas take on a little more meaning. Many companies already have some understanding of what's socially responsible. If that makes them popular so be it, but popularity per se is not something companies should be concerned with beyond existing issues of reputation and brand which are already important boardroom matters.
A "John Lewis" economy would be no more popular than the current version, especially when the brave new shareholder democracy was told to write a few expensive cheques and risk more of their capital to keep the economy growing.
What politicians are really hoping for, but can't quite articulate it, is that companies will adopt a more altruistic attitude towards the environment and communities around them.
Which they will, many already do, but it's a form of self-interested altruism that is designed to ultimately improve shareholder value. It will be part of the business plan, whether politicians like it or not, and it will be people's motives, including the profit motive, that will decide what is or isn't responsible for companies to do.
damian.reece@telegraph.co.uk
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