[clue-talk] oil...

[Nate Duehr]

On Nov 1, 2008, at 2:50 AM, Brian Gibson wrote:

> You're right, profits should not be limited, but at the same time  
> unfettered growth isn't good.  Short-term profiteering (see subprime  
> mortgage crisis) does not beat sustainable profits over the long term.

This is a problem in corporate governance.  Too much money invested  
from non-engaged parties in all companies.  Where are the shareholders  
demanding the heads of the Board members?

This is maybe a start at fixing that.  I'm watching with interest:

<http://www.icahnreport.com/report/2008/10/join-the-united.html>


>  Maximizing profits is bad when it comes at the expense of the  
> consumer, the laborer, the environment, and the greater economy.   
> People who are against the regulation of businesses and are anti- 
> union somehow are forgetful of why regulations and organized labor  
> came into existence.  It's because left to their own devices,  
> businesses are not self-regulatory if all they are beholden to is  
> the bottom line.  An unregulated economy is no better than one  
> that's centrally planned.

Agreed.  There are things in place that aren't working because we keep  
distancing the owners of the stock from their underlying companies,  
and allowing companies to elect Boards of Directors full of the CEO's  
*peers*.

Look at the Board of most tech companies, and you'll see people who  
went to school with the CEO, work in the same (tech) industry, and who  
have a vested interest in "taking care of each other".  It's a mess.

> If only businesses truly were capitalistic, but the fact is there is  
> so much litigation to stifle competition and lobbyists to make sure  
> it stays that way.  See the bailouts of all the companies that were  
> "too big to fail".  If you're not going to let companies fail under  
> their own ineptitude, at least hold the people responsible for  
> driving these companies into the ground accountable.  By that, I  
> mean let them pay for a portion of the bailout out of their own  
> pocket.  What is up with rewarding metiocrity?

Agreed.  But we're just not able to stomach it, are we?  They're not  
going to let Ford and GM die, even though they've consistently turned  
out inferior products to the automotive market for decades...

Not sure what the best course of action there is... nor why their  
execs are so dumb they couldn't see they were losing to the Japanese,  
Koreans, and who knows who else for a very long time.

Now the chickens come home to roost on those decisions they made, and  
the country can't afford the loss of the institutions/jobs.  Ugly.

--
Nate Duehr
nate at natetech.com