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Archive for 2012
« Previous EntriesMaybe Wall Street needs actuaries
Thursday, May 17th, 2012As the story at JPMorgan Chase continues to unfold, I’m increasingly struck by how badly the bank’s sophisticated investment gurus seem to have underestimated the risks associated with their losing trades. $2 billion is a sizeable chunk of change even in the investment world, and one has to go out of one’s way to [...]
Will Wall Street ever learn?
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012Like everyone else who writes about business ethics, I’ve been following the developing tale of the latest Wall Street bank scandal, this time at JPMorgan Chase. Earlier today, JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, barely survived an effort by shareholders to push him out of office. Seems the shareholders are a tad distressed that the [...]
Mitt Romney is unfit to be President
Friday, May 11th, 2012This may the be post that permanently alienates my more conservative readers, but I can’t let this go. The Washington Post reported Thursday that, while in prep school, presumptive Presidential nominee Mitt Romney was offended by the appearance of a younger boy whom the Post described as “a soft-spoken new student one year behind [...]
Shouldn’t Wal-Mart’s behavior affect its stock price?
Monday, May 7th, 2012For those of us who think and write about business ethics, Wal-Mart can be an absolute godsend. Most companies behave pretty well most of the time, leaving commentators with precious little to say. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, can be counted upon to provide plenty of material for those of us who like [...]
We must recycle plastic!
Monday, April 23rd, 2012Yesterday was Earth Day and, in its honor, let’s talk about plastic. My family spent a week in Orlando earlier this month, riding roller coasters, hanging out at the hotel pool and, on one occasion, going to the movies. Instead of indulging in yet another restaurant dinner, we decided to get hot dogs [...]
How much money do CEOs really deserve?
Friday, April 20th, 2012Citigroup stockholders made headlines this week when they voted down the Board of Directors’ proposal to award CEO Vikram Pandit a compensation package totalling a cool $15 million. The vote came under the “say on pay” provision of the newly-enacted Dodd-Frank Act, which requires publicly traded companies to allow their shareholders to vote on [...]
Do you know what’s in your dinner?
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012Today’s AOL Daily Finance features an article titled, “3 Big Lies Food Companies Are Feeding You.” At first I was surprised to see it, because the law prohibits food companies from actively misrepresenting the contents of their products. Upon reading the story, however, it became clear that the food companies’ “lies” weren’t affirmative [...]
Please check out Project Forgive!
Friday, April 13th, 2012For the past few weeks, I’ve dedicated my Friday posts to examining questions of social ethics. The questions of why we do the things we do, favor some people over others, and tolerate (or even encourage) some kinds of inequities strike me as more vital than ever at a time when our society seems [...]
How much should an e-book cost?
Thursday, April 12th, 2012Yesterday, the Justice Department filed a civil antitrust suit against computer giant Apple and five major publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster), accusing the defendants of artificially inflating the prices of e-books. According to news reports, Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster have already settled the suit, leaving Apple, Macmillan and [...]
The press shouldn’t try George Zimmerman - but it should address racial inequities
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012As events surrounding the shooting of Trayvon Martin continue to unfold, I become increasingly concerned about how news reports may distort the outcome. By law, George Zimmerman, the man who reportedy shot Trayvon Martin, is innocent until proven guilty. He hasn’t even been indicted yet. Unfortunately, hard lines have already been drawn [...]
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