His worldwide success in overcoming the crises was (and is) being belittled by virtually
everybody, from governments through unions to competing businesses large and small.
Bata’s only “fault” was that he did not make his company dependent on governmental
handouts, kept it private and out of stock market speculations, building-in a remarkable
corporate resilience through his coherent and integrated Bata Management System.
There is a current view, repeated by some politically-minded economists, that only
WorldWar II finally ended the Great Depression. It comes from Paul Krugman: “What
saved the economy, and the New Deal, was the enormous public works project known
as World War II, which finally provided a fiscal stimulus adequate to the economy’s
needs.”2 If we disregard Krugman’s calling the most destructive war in history a “public
works project,” we cannot overlook that 29% of the workforce is fighting the war
(so unemployment is down) as well as that the 13% real GDP growth was based on
inflated governmental prices, not on free-market forces. Consumer spending, no matter
how high, cannot disregard what the money is spent on. War spending can hardly
bring prosperity.3