Question

In the film Wall Street, Gordon Gekko says that “I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them.” Discuss what you think he means, and whether or not you agree with his attitude and approach to investing and making money. How does affect how you feel about capitalism, and whether or not these kinds of activities should be regulated?

Answer 1

The character Gordon Gekko is a Michael Douglas Character who is a corporate champion. He buys non-performing companies, divides them into the part and sells them at profit.

Discuss what you think he means, and whether or not you agree with his attitude and approach to investing and making money. - Dividing and selling of companies are definitely profitable to the companies shareholders but there is a criticism to it. As in my opinion breaking down underperforming companies may be profitable to the economy as there is less burden on the nation of underperformance and such amalgamation will lead to more profit. But every coin has two sides as this action will lead to loss of the job of employees who might have worked for those companies before division by Gordon Gekko. Since the pros of such division are more than cons, I agree with what Gordon Gekko did by liberating the companies and saving them from going bankrupt.

How does affect how you feel about capitalism, and whether or not these kinds of activities should be regulated?

In the economy where capitalism persists, there is less role of government to play. In capitalism economy, most of the country's trade and business are controlled by private players and there is no government intervention. Even in the corporate environment, big fish eats little fish by taking over the underperforming companies, selling the assets and making profits. For example, 21st Century Fox is taken over by Disney. The reason for taking over by companies is to reduce competition in the long run and increase profits. In my opinion, this kind of activities should be regulated to some extent only, till the time there is a voting of shareholders from underperforming companies to sell their stakes to larger companies. Forcefully taking over companies by giants should be regulated by the government as there will less scope of such companies for improvement and startup companies to grow up in the corporate environment.