Schramm even suggests that entrepreneurialism is a solution for terrorism in his editorial. But although Schramm advocates capitalism as a solution to all political and economic evils, he concedes that it must be the 'right' type of capitalism, in other words, that not all forms of capitalism are created equal. Merely to allow for life, liberty, and the pursuit and ownership of property is not enough, rather entrepreneurship must be encouraged by the structure of the capitalist government of a nation. In his book Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, Schramm and his co-authors William J. Baumol and Robert E. Litan examine different type cases in their typology of different types of capitalism, including state-guided, oligarchic, big firm and entrepreneurial.

State-guided capitalism is characterized by extensive control by the state of major industries and heavy control of market forces through taxation and regulation. The authors, as noted before believe that this is only acceptable in extreme instances, during a period of development or national crisis. Oligarchic capitalism, which is when an industry dominated by only a few major families or firms, is the most aristocratic and least-viable form of capitalism. It is the aristocracy of wealth that Schramm sees as anathema to allowing opportunities for everyone in a free market system. More acceptable is big firm capitalism (like Japan) where a few major firms dominate the nation, although they allow for some growth and innovation within their frameworks. However, what these authors advocate is a mix of entrepreneurial capitalism, or individualistic capitalistic innovation, combined with big firm capitalism, to mass-produce and market entrepreneurial innovations (Baumol, Litan, & Schramm 2006).

It is this model, Schramm writes, the United States must pursue. In his book the Entrepreneurial Imperative, Schramm writes that America's greatest export and natural resource is entrepreneurship. For "United States to survive and continue its economic and political leadership in the world, we must see entrepreneurship...

Nothing else can give us the necessary leverage to remain an economic superpower. Nothing else will allow us to continue to enjoy our standard of living. We either support and nurture increasingly entrepreneurial activities in all aspects of our society and around the globe, or run the very real risk that we will become progressively irrelevant on the world stage and suffer economically at home. In short, entrepreneurship in our businesses and universities; in our approach to both government and foreign policy; and in our personal lives is the only answer if we hope to continue to thrive" (Schramm, "Chapter 1," 2006).
These words sound inspiring until one examines them more closely. After all, American freedom and liberty existed before modern, industrialized capitalism. Is capitalism really more of an American value than freedom of speech and protest? What about when business curtails freedom of speech by dominating a particular media to such a degree, no true free market exists? Also, what value is wealth and entrepreneurship in the absence of political liberties? Finally, if entrepreneurial capitalism is so American, does this make it equally well-suited to the internal political structure and culture of all nations around the world, even all Western-style democracies? Although Schramm's ideals may be compelling as rhetoric for Americans, his words also seem open to the criticisms often leveled at American analysis abroad, namely that it assumes that what is good for America is good for all nations, and that freedom to grow rich is synonymous with freedom itself.

Works Cited

Schramm, Carl. "Capitalism spreads freedom even as democracy falters." Editorial. USA Today.

27 Jun 2006. 28 Nov 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-06-27-capitalism_x.htm

Schramm, Carl J. The Entrepreneurial Imperative. Collins, 2006.

Schramm, Carl J., Baumol, William, and Litan, Robert. Good Capitalism, Bad

Capitalism. Yale Press, May 2007.