Do shareholders have too much power?
5/6/2002
Marjorie Kelly doesn't have anything against capitalism or the stock market, per se. It's those danged shareholders that are messing things up. In a short (230 pages) but entertaining tome, Kelly says corporate shareholders are at the root of many of society's ills, including wealth disparity, a crumbling environment, and the deteriorating lot of the worker. The villains? Corporations that are in business to maximize returns to shareholders, who are characterized here as the "corporate aristocracy." Why should shareholders share in wealth they do so little to create? In the "What can we do?" section, Kelly lobbies for structural reform, including expanding the guardianship of corporate governance. Agree or not—and sometimes we thought Kelly herself was winking at us between the lines—this book will get you thinking about the role of corporations and public ownership in the modern world.