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corporate responsibility
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Predatory lending practices take a human toll
Monday, October 6th, 2008AOL News reported yesterday that a ninety-year-old woman in Akron, Ohio shot herself in the chest as sheriff’s deputies attempted to evict her from the home where she’s lived for almost thirty years. According to AOL, Addie Polk became the sole owner of her home when her husband died in 1995. Two years later, she [...]
Was SEC Chair Christopher Cox right to dismiss self-regulation?
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008As the subprime mortgage/credit crisis continues to play out, the second-guessing has begun. The New York Times recently quoted Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox as blaming the SEC’s “voluntary regulation” program for the failure. To grossly oversimplify the program, investment banks were invited, but not required, to submit to the SEC’s supervision, opting [...]
How ethical is the pending Wall Street bailout?
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008This afternoon I had the opportunity to watch the Senate hearings on the proposed Wall Street bailout. It’s not surprising that legislators on both sides of the aisle are revolting against the current proposal to authorize the Department of the Treasury to buy out approximately $700 billion dollars of bad debt. Many issues on the [...]
Referee Hochuli may have missed the call, but it was the NFL that fumbled
Sunday, September 21st, 2008In the interests of taking a break from the melodrama on Wall Street, let’s turn to the world of professional sports, where another drama is unfolding. A week ago, referee Ed Hochuli blew a call in a critical game. Hochuli’s error cost the Chargers a victory and, with the amount of money at stake in pro football, [...]
Will the next President crack down on predatory lenders?
Friday, September 19th, 2008The drama in U.S. financial markets continues, with the Treasury Department, SEC and Federal Reserve banding together to shore up the financial markets. The plan they’ve cobbled together – guaranteeing money market funds, temporarily banning short-selling of certain stocks and, of course, bailing out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG - is a bold one. I hope [...]
Was it ethical for Simon & Schuster to publish “Obama Nation”?
Monday, August 25th, 2008With the 2008 election nearing, it’s inevitable that voters’ interest in the candidates is increasing and the incentive to attack is growing on both sides. The latest attack on presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama comes in the form of a book by conservative Jerome Corsi titled Obama Nation that portrays Senator Obama in far from flattering [...]
Should U.S. companies support censorship in China?
Monday, August 18th, 2008In my last post, I discussed human rights abuses in China and the ethical challenges that the next U.S. President will face in developing a foreign policy to address them. It’s well known that the Chinese government takes a dim view of any kind of criticism, and routinely cracks down on dissidents and protesters who [...]
MSN’s Brush explains why the housing bill may not prevent future financial disasters
Monday, July 28th, 2008Over the weekend, Congress passed a massive bill designed to calm investors and pacify voters in the wake of the subprime mortgage mess. The bill provides for homeowner tax relief and a $300 billion program to prevent foreclosures. The bill also establishes a new paradigm for embattled financial giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, increasing [...]
How ethical is “gotcha” journalism?
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008The late Edward R. Murrow, one of America’s most legendary journalists, once said, “we cannot make good news out of bad practice.” Lately, I find myself wondering what Murrow would think of the “gotcha” game that passes so often for news in America. We all know the drill: it started with Watergate. Washington Post reporters Bob [...]
Jackson, Obama and Fox: who owes whom an apology here?
Thursday, July 10th, 2008By now, former Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson’s crass comments about current Presidential candidate Barack Obama are being gleefully bandied all over the Web. Jackson has publicly apologized for what he said (quite correctly – his comments were so tasteless that even his own son has condemned them) and Obama has accepted the apology. So we’re all [...]
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