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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

What do we look for in female leaders?

The moment I emerged from my mother's womb, however, my possibilities dwarfed those of my siblings, for I was a boy! And my brainy, personable, and good-looking siblings were not....So my floor became my sisters' ceiling -- and nobody thought much about ripping up that pattern until a few… May 14, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013

127 Years of Corporate Personhood

127 years ago today -- May 10, 1886, in an important aside in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company 118 U.S. 394 (1886), the Supreme Court concluded that corporations were “persons” entitled to the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution and, therefore, legal participants in… May 10, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Ric Marshall: Quantifying what is qualitative in ESG

Years ago I founded a small research company called The Corporate Library in Portland, Maine.  The idea was to rate companies based on governance with the premise that good governance increases value.  Today, TCL is GMIRatings a leading risk metrics company with staff in Maine, New York and London. … May 7, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013

Citizens DisUnited: Review by Jim McRitchie

corpgov.net has grown into a first-class resource for shareholder activism and corporate governance.  It's a must-go-to site every day.  Jim has given me unwaivering support over the years and this is my chance to encourage you all to look at his site.  I'm very pleased he has offered a… April 26, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Citizens DisUnited: Review by Jeff Clements

Jeff Clements has been working on issues around the Citizens United case since the Supreme Court re-heard the case in 2009.  At the time he submitted an Amicus brief to the Court arguing against expanding corporate rights.  Since then he has co-founded Free Speech for People and most recently… April 23, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013

Celebrating a Hero: Lance Lindblom wins an award

Last month, Lance Lindblom was awarded Common Cause New York's Democracy In Action award.  He's one of the few true leaders in responsible ownership.  In 2012 he retired after more than a decade at the Nathan Cummings Foundation.  Before that, while at the Ford Foundation, he focused on democratic… April 11, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Today's evidence of corporate capture

Revolving door influence.  From the New York Times: "The consulting firm is filled with so many former bureaucrats and political insiders that it has become known as Wall Street’s shadow regulator. Nearly two-thirds of its roughly 170 senior executives worked at agencies that oversee the financial industry. " … April 10, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013

Teaching Ethics and Investing Ethically

It's long been a dirty secret in the university world that they don't necessarily practice what they preach.  Prestigious (and expensive) universities that teach governance and ethics don't necessarily use the principles they teach when investing for endowments. The same is true for environmental issues -- a hot topic… April 6, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Today's Evidence of Corporate Capture

As reported in the NYT today: "Ever since Congress included a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices in President Obama’s health care reform law in 2009, there has been a forceful and well-financed campaign to repeal the tax — waged, naturally, by the medical device industry. It has donated… April 2, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A radical tilt at generous failures

By John Plender for the Financial Times - a review of Firm Commitment: Why the corporation is failing us and how to restore trust in it by Colin Mayer. It would not be difficult to reach agreement on the proposition that the regulatory response to the financial crisis has… March 27, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013

Citizens DisUnited - Announcement in Directorship

Nine Shades of Corporate Gray Shareholder activist Robert A.G. “Bob” Monks will soon publish a new book – working title: Corporate Competitiveness. His ninth book on the subject, this one will “focus on corporate power – not only in business in finance, but power in our government and even… March 25, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013

Free Kindle ebook this weekend only

Miniver Press is giving away free Kindle ebook versions of Citizens DisUnited for this weekend only as an introduction to the book. We'd love for you to read it so email editor@miniverpress.com to get your copy. March 22, 2013
Copyright 2013 by Robert A. G. Monks