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« 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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Should we punish the poor for eating sugar?
Friday, April 6th, 2012With the Supreme Court considering the health care reform law, it seems a good time to write about an NPR interview that has really haunted me. In February, Ira Flatow of Science Friday interviewed Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of pediatrics who has serious concerns about the amount of processed sugar Americans consume. According [...]
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 [...]
Check out conscious capitalism!
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012One of my favorite ways to get inspiration for this blog is to wander around online, exploring the meandering information pathways of the Internet until something strikes my fancy. Today, as I was thinking (okay, brooding) about the disproportional political muscle of corporate superpacs, my online explorations led me to a site that’s well worth [...]
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