In recent years, Howard Schultz, the founder and chief executive officer of Starbucks, has battled to change how we drink coffee. Now he is engaged in a much tougher mission. Last week in Washington, D.C., the charismatic Schultz took to a platform at a vast investment conference, and made a highly emotional appeal for political reform. More specifically, he repeated a call he first uttered last year - namely that businesses and investors stop funding politicians, unless the politicians pledge to break the poisonous gridlock that is now besetting Washington.
Will anybody listen? Don't hold your breath. Last year, Schultz said that 100-odd executives were promising to follow his lead. Last week, I chatted with dozens of CEOs of American companies, who were in Washington for a forum. Nobody there seemed about to launch a funding strike. On the contrary, many of them were mulling where to send their campaign dollars, as lobbyists beat the drum.
But if you want to understand why Schultz's comments matter, take a look at a survey recently carried out by The Conference Board for The Business Council, an industry body. This asked some 70 CEOs how they evaluated the current economic and political climate - and the results were striking. Most notably, when this group was asked which global institutions they considered most competent and credible, the body they put in first place was... er... themselves (about 90 per cent of these CEOs apparently think that “multinational corporations” have been “moderately”, “very” or “most” effective in handling the challenges created by the economic crisis and financial shocks). After this, the CEOs apparently admire central banks: almost 80 per cent deemed these “moderately”, “very” or “most” effective.