Breaking: Top CEOs suddenly discover ethics

Viola!
After 40+ years of raping and pillaging the working class, the consumers, and the environment of United States, and most of the world, the biggest thieves on the globe have seen the light!

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Look everyone. Corporate America are the good guys again!
Obviously they deserve another tax cut.

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It shows that:

a) they realize that corporate America a serious PR problem
b) they know that it's caused by the kind of capitalism that we are supposed to worship

So that much we learned from this empty gesture.

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@gjohnsit It's a micro-step in the right direction. Like global warming the first movement was for most of the deniers to grudginly agree that maybe GW was true though that came with the next rings of defense: maybe it's not man made, the Chinese are the real culprits, etc. If the pressure is kept on maybe we can push corporations further along the path towards becoming better corporate citizens of this country and the world.

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just trying to look like they give one shit so there will be sympathy for them when the next bailout comes along any minute now? See look, they really really DO care but they are simply powerless to make any real changes doncha know, just like those Dems really really CARE but just cant DO anything about it? Yes, my cynicism knows no bounds anymore...

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

@lizzyh7

"No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up."

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Azazello's picture

It had to happen. Do you mistrust the CIA for all their lies and dirty deeds ?
No problem. We'll rebrand them. Now they're the "Intelligence community", like the Hispanic community or the LGBTQ community. Communities are good. Soon we'll be hearing from representatives of the Plutocrat community.

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Azazello's picture

@Azazello

“The American dream is alive, but fraying,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of Business Roundtable. “Major employers are investing in their workers and communities because they know it is the only way to be successful over the long term. These modernized principles reflect the business community’s unwavering commitment to continue to push for an economy that serves all Americans.”

Full text here: Business Roundtable

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Benny's picture

From HBS professor Michael Jensen, who was one of those in the late 80's and early 90's who came up with executive compensation leveraged by stock options to reward CEO performance. His work influenced many corporate raiders. Jensen is a grad of the Chicago school, in which many Austrian economists have bloomed with their Hayek-neoliberal theories.

Enlightened stakeholder theory is easy to explain. It can take advantage of most that stakeholder theorists offer in the way of processes and audits to measure and evaluate the firm's management of its relations with all important constituencies. Enlightened stakeholder theory adds the simple specification that the objective function of the firm is to maximize total long-term firm market value. In short, changes in total long term market value of the firm is the scorecard by which success is measured.

I say long-term market value to recognize that it is possible for markets not to know the full implications of a firm's policies until they begin to show up in cash flows over time. In such a case the firm must lead the market to understand the full value implications of its policies, then wait for the market to catch up and recognize the real value of its decisions as they become evidenced in market share, employee loyalty, and finally cash flows and risk. Value creation does not mean succumbing to the vagaries of the movements in a firm's value from day to day. The market is inevitably ignorant of many of our actions and opportunities, at least in the short run. It is our job as directors, managers, and employees to resist the temptation to conform to the pressures of equity and debt markets when those markets do not have the private competitive information that we possess.

In this way enlightened stakeholder theorists can see that although stockholders are not some special constituency that ranks above all others, long-term stock value is an important determinant (along with the value of debt and other instruments) of total long-term firm value. They would see that value creation gives management a way to assess the tradeoffs that must be made among competing constituencies, and that it allows for principled decision making independent of the personal preferences of managers and directors. Importantly, managers and directors also become accountable for the assets under their control, because the value scorecard provides an objective yardstick against which their performance can be evaluated.

Source: HBS Working Knowledge. Published: 19 years ago.

I'm glad though that Dutch historican Rutger Bregman shamed a bunch of those CEO's at Davos. Not to mention the political influence of Sanders and Warren.

You can buy only so many yachts.

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One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.--Tennyson

Alligator Ed's picture

@Benny In modern Amerikan business, long-term thinking means 3 months. Or is this too generous an estimate?

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maximize value for stockholders. However, that doesn't mean that they cannot be good to employees, donate to charities, etc.: In theory, those things enhance goodwill which, in theory, translates to increased business.

The landmark case on this is Dodge v. Ford Motor Company. The Dodge brothers were stockholders in Ford. They sued Ford for spending money charitably. They lost the case, so they started their own company. (So there.)

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GreyWolf's picture

@HenryAWallace noted … thanks

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karl pearson's picture

Maybe these CEOs anticipate a stock market crash soon and they are trying to shield themselves from the pitchforks that will be coming their way. Now they can look like the "good guys" who didn't do anything wrong.

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@karl pearson

It’s for hay, of course, but I surely don’t buy what they’re selling. Pure malarkey!

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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Daenerys's picture

@ovals49 Plus just about every garden and yard tool known to man--hoes, limb lopper, hatchet, machete, chainsaw.... Diablo

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This shit is bananas.

Daenerys's picture

@Daenerys And a grinding wheel. Heh.

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This shit is bananas.

@karl pearson That economic downturn would spell doom for capitalist Donald staying another 4 yrs. And what if the person to replace him is Bernie? Or even Liz Warren, emboldened to act aggressively against the corporations with a big election victory.

I do see this as some political positioning and insurance, in the event the above comes to pass.

For someone like Bernie however, they would need to show action, not just cheap talk.

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burnt out's picture

it's a feeble attempt by the corporate overlords to negate Bernie's message about corporate greed and corruption. Apparently all received the memo.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

shaharazade's picture

about the markets or the so called economy. Sure I would suffer as I'm not 'invested' just another ordinary person working month to month to make a living. Politics at this obvious point have absolutely nothing to do with how we the people live or die. It's all about 'The Benjamin's' and they are not in most of our realm's. No one including Bernie can put this Humpty Together Again. The assholes who rule the world have no intention or desire to make it work for either humans or the planet. Get real, politics American or globally are all about how to fuck us all for their sick concept of power, profit and world domination. They have managed to take us all back to WW2 fascism and unmitigated disaster capitalism with no acknowledgement of the damage done.

Neither US party or geopolitical consideration has any interest in stopping anything be it endless bloody war, global warming and it's consequences, or human suffering. Why bother e3ven getting tweaked about politics here when none of them will do a damn thing as they are part of the problem. This includes Bernie. They all believe in and uphold the madness that prevails. What a farce. How can the participants not know what a disgraceful sham they are participating in? They all know and yet dare not say or else. What they will lose or will the Clinton's and the establishment kill them? lol. Not so funny and yet why are people hung up on the absurd choices offered and called democracy?

get

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snoopydawg's picture

@shaharazade

There is so much here I agree with. Especially how the PTB have reverted back to WWII fascism.

How can the participants not know what a disgraceful sham they are participating in? They all know and yet dare not say or else.

Bernie has to know that he will not be allowed to win this time and yet he is making lots of plans for when he becomes president. And it's the same damn story every time an election comes around.

"If you elect me I promise I'll do this." Even though they have had plenty of terms to bring the legislation up and yet they never have. I can't believe people fell for Nancy telling them that if they elect enough democrats they would hold Trump accountable... and then they were and no they won't.

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How many more times does this need to happen before people figure it out?

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

ggersh's picture

@snoopydawg IMG_3690.JPG

How many more times does this need to happen before people figure it out?

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

@shaharazade The 1% and their trusted lackeys own the country. They allow us to live here as long as we don't get too uppity.

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