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corporate responsibility
« 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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Who should be responsible for anticipating dual use?
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012Human beings are wonderfully inventive, and can come up with all kinds of wonderful things … and all kinds of ways to use them that might or might not be so wonderful. Take bird flu, for instance. NPR recently reported on a controversy that’s brewing in the scientific community. Seems that, in [...]
What should we learn from Mega Millions madness?
Friday, March 30th, 2012The biggest lottery prize in history is up for grabs today, and the excitement is growing out of control. The pot has swelled to an astonishing $640 million, up $100 million from Tuesday when the drawing failed - again - to produce a winner. Americans are lining up everywhere for a chance to [...]
Lawmakers shouldn’t be for sale … and corporations shouldn’t buy them
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012After this week’s report on the “pay to play” scandal breaking in Britain, I started poking around the NPR website to see what related stories might be breaking in the U.S. It wasn’t long before I stumbled on a blog post by Peter Overby about a recent visit that former lobbyist Jack Abramoff recently [...]
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