Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of Board, Flowers Foods
Search every verified A. Mcmullian interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a 2009 lecture at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Flowers Foods Chairman Emeritus Amos McMullian discussed the relationship between business and government, arguing that U.S. policies placed American companies at a competitive disadvantage. He stated that the United States had the second-highest corporate income tax rate among 25 industrialized nations and was the only one where businesses, rather than the government, paid for healthcare. McMullian said manufacturing jobs had declined from over 40% of the workforce to 17%, and he attributed this to cost advantages held by foreign competitors, adding that those jobs would not return without policy reforms. McMullian also offered advice on management and career development. He said that "opportunities come disguised as problems" and urged leaders to "learn to be bold" after understanding the difference between boldness and recklessness. He emphasized the importance of early accountability in business, stating that his company tested employees early so that mistakes were small and costs low. McMullian criticized what he described as an adversarial relationship between government and business, and he encouraged greater political involvement, noting that only 7% of Americans were active in politics while 97% followed sports.
“You need to learn that opportunities come disguised as problems. You need to know the difference between being bold and being reckless and after you've learned that difference, learn to be bold.”
“In a global economy there are over 200 nations in the world out there so you've got corporations that are incorporated in 200 different countries with different rules and different regulations. We have to be careful that we don't trigger the law of unintended consequences in our regulatory process that gives the Americ...”
“Of the top 25 industrial developed nations in the world, 24 of them healthcare is paid for by government. Only one of them is healthcare paid for by business—that one is the United States. Now we're talking about healthcare as one-sixth of the largest economy in the world, so you're talking about a huge cost burden to...”
“The United States is second with the highest corporate income tax rate among those 25 countries. When our partners in the Keebler transaction sold, they paid zero capital gains tax because they were incorporated in Luxembourg. We would have paid a 38.5% corporate tax rate and then when we dividend it out to our shareho...”
“Manufacturing jobs in this country have gone from 40 plus percent of the workforce down to 17 percent and still going down. These are the wealth-creating jobs. Those jobs didn't go overseas because people were unpatriotic; they went overseas because they had competitors who had a cost advantage and they had to find a w...”
“Our political leaders are not focusing on the answers; most of them are not even aware we have the problem. Over the last few decades, government has evolved into an adversarial relationship with business. I suggest to you that is something America can ill afford. In a global economy, we're going to have to have a gove...”
“If you're going to be in senior management you have to understand economics. For every credit expansion there will be a credit contraction, and when it comes it will catch somebody off guard. The lesson for management here is you prepare for the hard times during the good times.”
“There is no increase in standard of living without increases in productivity. The media says the Fortune 500 is not building jobs, but all the job growth comes from small business. That is good news. Large companies invest capital to get productivity increases so they are not adding jobs, but small businesses hire peop...”
“Government policies are going to determine the standard of living and quality of life. Yet 97% of people say their life is influenced by sports, but only 7% are involved in politics to the extent of running for office or supporting candidates. People know the score of last night's game but don't know the philosophy of...”
“When government policy fails, they look for scapegoats. Some businessmen who lack character will be caught up by the government with great fanfare to show that but for these profiteers, their policies would have worked. In the court of public opinion, you're guilty unless you can prove yourself innocent.”
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Leaders and Legends Lecture Series, May 14, 2009: Amos McMullian - Chairman, ...
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