President Obama’s inaugural address to the nation was heavy with reference to the fundamental shifts needed in our business culture.

I have set out the most pertinent passages and added comments in square brackets. Clicking on “Read the source” will take you to the transcript of the speech at the New York Times, and of course I have included a link to the speech on YouTube.

Barack Obama, 44th President of the USA:

“Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age...each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.”

[The chiefs of capitalism have stopped the system from serving the people.]

“our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.”

[If that isn’t promising wholesale lobbying reform then what is?]

“We will restore science to its rightful place”

[Not just about Creationism out of the science curriculum, but also a reference to the place of climate science in energy policy.]

“We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”

[No wonder renewable stocks have been enjoying an uplift.]

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”

[Not more or less but better regulation. And surely this means effective, rule-enforcing regulators too?]

“And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."

[“light of day”: sunlight disinffects. Another plus for democratic transparency in place of closed door corporate lobbying.]

“Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched.”

[A nod to the undisputed conclusion of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.]

But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

[A nod to the undisputed conclusion of both Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and his Theory of Moral Sentiments. Business and Chicago School economists just tend to forget this bit.]

“The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.”

[Joseph Stiglitz no doubt liked this. I hope President Obama will follow through with something more balanced than GDP as an ongoing indicator of national success.]

“And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect.”

[Fairer trade agreements? And sustainability policies writ large.]

“the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.”

[One in the eye for the old Reagan/Thatcher culture of capitalism that says we should only care about ourselves, and nobody else.]

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship.”

[There you have it: “a new era of responsibility”, “satisfying to the spirit” rather than the pocketbook or instant consumer gratification. A message of light leading the way out of dark times.]

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