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Bloomberg Businessweek December 23, 2019manyofthemfounded by “Naderites,” people inspired by Ralph Nader’s
indictmentoftheautoindustryin 1965’sUnsafeatAnySpeed. Theseadvocates
becamethemoralconscienceofcorporations,whethersaidcorporations liked
it ornot.Meanwhile, environmentalism came of age with the passage
oftheCleanAirActin 1990,forgedbydealsbetweencongressional
Democrats,who“don’twanttofacethevotersempty-handed” in an
electionyear,and a Republican president, George H.W. Bush, who
“wantstoburnish his reputation as an environmentalist,” according
toa March5, 1990, story. How times have changed.
Andyet,not.History does seem to repeat itself. As the magazine
wrotejusta fewissues ago, 2020 could be “the year of the great anti-
trustreawakening.” If so, it would arrive 36 years after the breakup of
AmericanTelephone & Telegraph Co. The U.S. had brought an anti-
trustcaseclaimingthatMaBellhadabuseditsmonopolyoverlong-
distanceserviceandequipment.Aftera decade-longcourtbattle,
AT&Tagreedtosettlethecasebyspinningofftheregionaltelephone
companies,theseven Baby Bells, in 1984.
Themagazineclosely chronicled how that breakup brought chaos
yetpavedtheway for young visionaries who foresaw how the tele-
phonecouldprovide voice, video, and data in one handset. Fifteen
yearslater,a Nov. 22, 1999, article said “companies created out of
theBellSystem,including those since swallowed up, are worth about
$810billiontoday, vs. $59 billion before the breakup.”
Thetelecomupheaval would soon mesh with the digital revolution.
Thesameyearas Ma Bell’s dissolution, a 28-year-old Steve Jobs
wouldintroduce the Apple Macintosh personal computer. “Stores
cannotkeepMacintoshin stock; the waiting lists of eager customers are
growingatmanyretailers,” the magazine wrote in March 1984.
DuringRonaldReagan’s presidency, “deregulation” and “tax cuts” were
the watchwords. This lured many companies for
the first time to open lobby shops and make cam-
paign contributions to influence legislation and
policy. BusinessWeek in 1985 also opened its
first dedicated Washington bureau—just in time,
too. A savings and loan scandal erupted out of a
soupçon of regulatory failures, legislative bloop-
ers, and unchecked campaign contributions.
The fallout lasted to 1995 and involved the clo-
sure of some 800 S&Ls at a cost to taxpayers of
about $125 billion.
That debacle fed a disenchantment with
Washington that, by late 1992, had “deteriorated
into something more malignant—a deep-seated
loathing,”themagazinewrote,hittinganall-too-
familiar theme. “The public seems to distrust all
politicians and is determined to shake up the estab-
lished order.” Sometimes, nothing seems to change.● 1984
StephenB.Shepard,who’dworkedforBusinessWeek
fora decadestartingin the1960s,becomeseditor-in-
chiefafterstintsatNewsweekandSaturdayReview.
Oneofhisfirstactsis togivebylinestowriters.“The
sadtruth,asI sawit, wasthatthemagazine,though
deeplyreportedandsolidlyprofitable,wasin direneed
ofeditorialchange,”Shepardlaterwrote.● 1980
ArtDirectorMalcolmFroumanproducesmultiple
sketchesforeachcoverstory.● 1988
ManagementEditorJohn
A.Byrnelaunchesthe
businessschoolrankings,
whichturnintoa mainstay.
“Businessschoolsbelieve
in thedisciplineofthe
marketplace,”Byrne
recalledlastyear.“We
thought,Whydon’twe
gradethemonpure
customersatisfaction?”
Thefirstyear,hesaid,
“I literallysatin frontof
theTVnightafternight
stuffingenvelopes.”● 1984
A Novembercoverstory,
“OOPS!Who’sExcellent
Now?,”revealsthatmany
companiesfeaturedin the
managementbestseller
In SearchofExcellence
werehavingserious
difficultiesjusttwoyears
afteritspublication.(Inan
email,Shepardsaysthat
wasthefirstcoverofhis
editorshipandit was“abig
dealforme.”)
● 1984
SteveJobssitsShepard
downin frontofa
Macintoshandshowshim
howtousea mouse.COVER SKETCH: COURTESY MALCOLM FROUMAN. SHEPARD: TERRY HOURIGAN. GATES: ALAN LEVENSON▼ 1980s
● 1988
The March 14 cover story says, “After years of hard-
won progress, signs of stagnation are appearing.”