Changes

The promotion of Free Enterprise as an American ideal originates in libertarian and conservative responses to the New Deal. Rippa (1958, 1959) shows how free enterprise was promoted in school textbooks. St. John (2010) examines its promotion in newspapers. FonesFines-Wolf is (1994) examines the promotion of free enterprise ideals by National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in the post-war period. The ethics of the free enterprise system has also been a subject of discussion.  Erteszek (1982) asserts that "the moral basis of a free enterprise system faces both new and persistent challenges... these challenges cannot be met without a new, ethical vision of private enterprise, and a monograph on mid century reconfiguration of the moral purpose of corporate promotion life... The experience of history indicates that man will not act nobly, with compassion and fidelity, simply out of enlightened self-interest... the new vision needed by modern man and woman is to be found not in self-interest but in Judeo-Christian virtues... the Judeo-Christian system has the power to transform modern man and to stimulate him to a life of service, stewardship and compassion." Wishloff (2003) argues that "an economic system of responsible free enterprise ideals.. [would] be accompanied by a sense of social and moral responsibility which might have to be encouraged and enforced by the government... Our enterprises, taken as a whole, are not fulfilling their social and moral responsibilities... the root cause of [this problem is] adherence to the metaphysics of material scientism... Common sense realism is proposed as a more suitable alternative."