[The_Reader_David]

Are you sure they are still capitalist corporations?

The capitalists (those who supply capital, assume risk and hope for profit) are now largely pension-fund beneficiaries and small investors investing indirectly through mutual funds. The people running the corporations are, in theory, fiduciaries for the shareholders, but in practice act in their own interests and the interests of their fellow-managers. The “golden parachute” that lets a manager walk off with a bundle of money even if he ran the corporation into the ground in terms of shareholder value along with the egregious examples where such managerial behavior strayed into actual illegality like Enron and WorldCom illustrate my point. Professional managers vote each other fat bonuses even in bad times, even against the interests of the shareholders, who would doubtless prefer that bonuses only be given to managers who increased shareholder value and the rest of the money reinvested or paid in dividends.

And guess what: the professional managerial class in the corporate world is very cozy with the professional managerial class in government and academe and the non-profit sector. As a class professional managers tend to vote and donate Democrat.

There is a reason Gov. Palin’s favorite Chicago-school economist makes a distinction between pro-market and pro-business. In the present circumstances, with corporate governance so out of whack, with the interests of large corporate managers at odds with the interests of both shareholders and small businessmen, it is reasonable for American Conservatives to attack “Wall Street”, but the conservative attack is pro-market, pro-shareholder (and pro-laborer, though that is incidental), not pro-government.

[verdugo]

Great addition to the discussion!

I’m rather surprised at all the excellent responses. It is good to hear that there are others out there who understand what is going on. Keep talking.

[verdugo]

Great addition to the discussion!

I’m rather surprised at all the excellent responses. It is good to hear that there are others out there who understand what is going on. Keep talking.

[verdugo]

For the past 12 years or so, the "aberrant false capitalist corporations" have been living in their perfect utopia of actually having a world of pauper labor, mainly China products, and prince customers (USA buyers, which still had money from the days when they had good salaries). But that is now coming to an end, the USA workers are running out of savings.

What happens now?

[montyspython]

The capitalists (those who supply capital, assume risk and hope for profit) are now largely pension-fund beneficiaries and small investors investing indirectly through mutual funds. The people running the corporations are, in theory, fiduciaries for the shareholders, but in practice act in their own interests and the interests of their fellow-managers. The “golden parachute” that lets a manager walk off with a bundle of money even if he ran the corporation into the ground in terms of shareholder value along with the egregious examples where such managerial behavior strayed into actual illegality like Enron and WorldCom illustrate my point. Professional managers vote each other fat bonuses even in bad times, even against the interests of the shareholders, who would doubtless prefer that bonuses only be given to managers who increased shareholder value and the rest of the money reinvested or paid in dividends.

This congruently applies to how our government conducts the people's business.

[bvw]

Nice post.

How do you read IRA’s, 401K’s, and other individually owned pension funds? Do they encourage the mandarin class of professional corporation and fund managers?

Clearly paperwork creating bureaucracies like the SEC and the many retirement fund oversight agencies do so.

[cycjec]

Sorry I think I got my attributions mixed in my query
about Palin’s favorite Chicago school economist.