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Category Archives: Capitalism

Power and the people

Monday, January 21, 2008

Consider this: In a functioning democracy, the people - who are the sovereign - are generally able to communicate their broad wishes about the identity and direction of the state, as well as their concerns and preferences regarding specific policies and initiatives. The politicians they elect are typically pretty clear about all of this. But in an anonymous shareholder-owned corporation, despite the undoubted presence of ownership in the shareholders, there is no really effective way to make it felt, in a practical sense, in the boardroom or executive suites of the corporation. . .

Also filed in Boards, CEOs, Corporate Governance | | Comments (4)

Roundup: Balancing boards and bosses

Friday, January 18, 2008

Balancing bosses and boards. That seems to be the approach most people take to the growing controversy over the way corporate governance is expressed, today - a debate that is especially heated in the US. Let’s take a look at some of the ways this attitude - of compromise regarding the issues being raised - is presented. . .

Also filed in Boards, CEOs, Corporate Governance, Women in Management | | Comments (2)

Abhorrent vacuums

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The key issue in the corporate governance debate is: expression of ownership. Where that breaks down or is intercepted, a vacuum is created. Those, of course, are soon filled, often resulting, at the very least, in a distortion, if not a rollback, of the natural operation of democratic and capitalist structures . . .

Also filed in Corporate Governance | | Comments (3)

The battleground of the ideologues

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The origin of what we call, today, “liberalism” is in the “progressive” movement of the middle of the last century. That is why liberalism is contrasted with conservatism, because liberals want to drive social evolution forward to produce good for all. Sadly, the dull-witted can sometimes be stubborn. In that event, the vanguard, as Platonic philosopher-kings, must be entrusted to judiciously employ the cattle prods. But, then, I’ve been in conservative - very conservative - places where batons are used to keep people in line. Whether political or religious, this conservatism can be every bit as punitively directive as the more strident forms of liberalism.

Also filed in Corporate Governance | | Comments (4)

Marketing capitalism

Monday, January 14, 2008

Some years ago I was reading an article in a non-Western country about the problem of finding employment for all of its university graduates. One opposition-party member of parliament was quoted as not understanding why the government didn’t simply hire all of these young people as they graduated. Unfortunately, that sort of thinking is rather more widespread than many people would imagine. . .

Also filed in Corporate Governance, Training and Education | | Comments (0)