A Dow-DuPont Merger and the Shrinking of American Ambition.

The author argues that the potential merger of U.S. chemical companies DuPont and Dow Chemical as of early December 2015 was emblematic of a disturbing reduction of ambition among U.S. corporations. He argues that stockholder discontent due to sluggish U.S. economic growth, the rise of activist investors, and advancements by state-owned Chinese companies such as Sinochem International Corp. were driving timidity among U.S. corporations.