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Warren Stephens Touts Capitalism to Rotarians

2 min read

Stephens Inc. CEO Warren Stephens touted the merits of capitalism Tuesday in front of 100-plus Rotarians from 49 cities during the Rotary Large Club Conference at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

“While it certainly is an imperfect system, it’s the foundation of America’s economic power and why we are the gold standard across the globe for business creation and innovation,” he said. “The intersection of great ideas and capitalism is the lifeblood of this country.”

Stephens lamented that, according to a recent Harvard University survey, more than half of adults ages 18-29 are rejecting capitalism. He also said many millennials are associating greed, corruption and control with capitalism.

Stephens told Rotarians that he decided to write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal aimed at changing those young people’s minds after seeing how many of that generation supported “avowed socialist” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when he ran for president in 2016.

Stephens also launched a multimedia series called “This Is Capitalism.” The series, announced in May, features short films on some of the heroes of capitalism in the United States, including Stephens’ father, Jackson T. Stephens. The films, articles and other content featuring influential American business leaders, historians and academics is available here.

Three three-minute clips about inspiring capitalists have already been filmed and will be released this year, Stephens said Tuesday. Asked if any millennial entrepreneurs would be featured in the series, Stephens said that the young founder of a startup in New York would participate in a podcast.

Stephens blamed millennials’ negative opinions of capitalism on the Great Recession, when many saw their parents lose jobs and struggle or struggled themselves, putting dreams on hold or abandoning them.

Stephens argued that the overregulation that followed the Great Recession, such as the Dodd Frank Act and Consumer Protection Act, didn’t help.

He said it’s more difficult now for a company to go public, both because more paperwork and more money is needed, and that having fewer public companies limits the ability of average Americans to invest.

Stephens also said that another obstacle to a positive view of capitalism by millennials is a lack of financial literacy education in the United States.

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