Re: Congress' reaction to AIG bonuses -- am I the only one concerned?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Karl Auerbach <karl () cavebear com>
Date: March 21, 2009 7:25:22 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net, dmcknight15 () comcast net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:       Congress' reaction to AIG bonuses -- am I  
the only one concerned?

David Farber wrote:

> From: "Mac McKnight" <dmcknight15 () comcast net>

> The key here is proper regulation.  The strict free market advocates  
> of the
> Bush administration have caused us tremendous pain.  We can’t place  
> such
> tremendous responsibility for the wealth and well-being of our  
> country in
> the hands of such organizations with little or no oversight,  
> especially if
> we view them as "too big to fail."

The "too big to fail" logic has been with us for decades - Lockheed  
being an example of a company that were considered in that category in  
the past.

Might it make sense in our yet-to-be constructed re-regulatory  
structure to have caps on the size of corporate forms?

Some enterprises, such as the manufacture or aircraft or large  
infrastructures (railroads, power) require large enterprises.  But do  
we really need mega-banks and mega-insurance companies?

We have come a long way, and in my mind much too far a way, down the  
road of giving civil rights to corporate forms.  And in the AIG bonus  
situation we are seeing a reflection of a popular resentment against  
the idea that potentially immortal corporations have the same civil  
rights as living, breathing people.

And in the context of governance of the internet these artificial life  
forms, corporations, are beginning to be granted political rights that  
often exceed the rights of people.

It seems that the time is ripe to revisit our legal notions about what  
is a corporate form, what are their rights, and what should be the  
constraints on their activities and powers.  I'm not suggesting a  
return to the corporate charters of the early 19th century, but I am  
suggesting that we are creating institutions that are so large, so  
powerful, so immortal, that they are damaging the ability of our  
governments to promote the general welfare and quality of life of its  
human citizens.

                --karl--





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