In this month’s issue of Esquire, Ken Kurson extols the virtues of Sanofi-Aventis, the world’s third largest pany. “A Drugmaker reborn” (subscription required) essentially describes why Kurson thinks Sanofi is a great investment, but between his praises of pany sits this tidbit:

And yet controlling costs is one of the things I like best about Sanofi. It’s why I believe in its strategy of growth through acquisition. And it’s why I think the merger with Aventis will be so effective.

There’s a small but chronically overperforming pany called Mairs and Power. Based in Minnesota, it invests a disproportionate amount of its money panies headquartered in its home state, like 3M. I once asked its founder how he maintained his excellent returns, especially when he was so overweighted panies whose profits were dragged down by Minnesota’s high taxes. He explained that their high taxes were the exact reason he liked panies: They had learned how to be lean enough pete with their petitors, and that discipline carried over into every area of their business.

Sanofi has shown the same character, one of the unexpected benefits of socialism. By staring down France’s cuckoo labor situation and America’s tendency to sue everyone and spend itself silly on marketing, Sanofi has learned how to run a tight ship.

Kurson is essentially saying panies that learn to thrive in situations adverse to economic success run more efficiently pete better panies that don’t face such difficulties. If necessity is the mother of invention, maybe efficiency is the key to economic survival.