Issue 14 Pearls of Wisdom - January 2006 I want to bring your attention to an article http://digbig.com/4gbbg in last week’s New York Times asking "Is one American business or even the American economy in general, more important than the life of one Chinese dissident?" We need to keep posing this question to both the media and our corporate leaders. That our most successful and influential companies are acquiescing to the demands of a country with such blatant human rights violations is disappointing although not surprising given China represents the most lucrative market right now. But profit at the cost of someone’s freedom is not right. Think how great it would be if business could effect change in a monumental way where politics and diplomacy had failed. Perhaps I’m being naive looking for our big strong corporations to stand up to the ultimate bully and turn away from the almighty dollar. But corporations as sycophant turn my stomach. Taking a more macro view on the subject is a podcast from NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook titled Economic Growth and the Good Society http://digbig.com/4gbbk. It features Harvard economist Benjamin Friedman and talks about morality, democracy, and "must-have" economic growth. On the corporate governance front there is a podcast from NewsHour with Jim Lehrer titled Disclosing Pay and Perks - New SEC Rules Reveal True Executive Pay - http://digbig.com/4gbbj The Securities and Exchange Commission released new rules last week requiring companies to spell out total pay and benefits for top executives, including stock options. Also two websites that involve corporate governance: BoardEx http://www.boardex.com/ is an intelligence service that lets corporations, fund and asset managers, investment bankers, corporate advisors and Not-for-Profits analyze quoted company boards, their members and their performance. They Rule http://www.theyrule.net/ allows you to create maps of the interlocking directories of the top companies in the US. The data was collected from their websites and SEC filings in early 2004, so it may not be completely accurate. It’s fun to play with though! The more boards a person sits on, the fatter they are in the presentation. return to Pearls of Wisdom web development by www.maineinfo.net