by Liamj » Sun 19 Dec 2004, 19:55:44
Amazing to think that this occurs in broad daylight and is completely legal.
Call me a cynic, but isn't it wholesale THEFT from investors, most notably pension funds?
1-Shareholders 'employ' management to protect their capital investment.
2-Management votes itself massive payouts (salary, share options, performance bonus, retention bonus..) liquidating capital or draining cashflow to do so, and exits stage left.
3-When recession/depression comes, Shareholders discover insufficient funds/assets to cover their investment (or workers entitlements, outstanding accounts). Unfortunately the new Management is not responsible for past errors, while the old Management suffers from memory loss, can't be found, wont talk, etc.
This has happened so often we need to settle on a durable term for it... can't remember who coined "corporate kleptocracy" but works for me.
Contemporary Govt inaction on Corp governance should be contrasted with hard line on crimes of the poor (jail for shoplifting food, for being intoxicated, for possessing recently outlawed drugs etc). Sure a very few white (collars) do get jail time, but nothing like proportionate to # of black &/or poor males who get jail for pissant crimes.
I like to believe that in the future jilted, hungry, and angry retirees will go looking for these crooks, haunting them from Palm Springs to Whistler to whereever they try to pile their cash.