Bill Baxter was the USDOJ assistant AG for antitrust who settled the AT&T case (among others) and broke up the Bell System. He was an antitrust law professor.

________________________________

From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk on behalf of Donna J. Cunningham
Sent: Fri 5/14/2010 1:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Duty to Shareholders



Figuring in false negatives and false positives - the quadruple bottom line. I would have loved to hear Baxter's talk! Maybe I should suggest that sort of officer to my student teams who elect officers. 

 

Donna Cunningham

 

From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Virginia G Maurer
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 11:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Duty to Shareholders

 

Well, yeah. If incorporating all the ultimate external costs into bottom line wipes out equity, it would behoove management to make better decisions about what to spend reducing costs, including foregoing some short term profits. In the macro sense, it is an agency problem. The managers who decided how much to spend on safety are not affected by this problem in the least. They are retired in the Bahamas and don't work there anymore. Until there is criminal liability for bad business judgment, they won't be touched. And if there were, the agency problem would produce just the opposite problem: Way too much risk aversion. Regulation seems like a better alternative perfection is not possible. More or less like balancing false negatives and false positives.

 

Bill Baxter used to talk about the corporate Vice President in Charge of Going to Jail.

 

 

________________________________

From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk on behalf of Donna J. Cunningham
Sent: Fri 5/14/2010 11:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Duty to Shareholders

So glad to see SHAREHOLDERS complaining that the company put profits 

ahead of safety.

 

BP Shareholders Head to Court Over Oil Spill's Damage to Company 

National Law Journal

 

BP investors are the latest plaintiffs to go to court over the Gulf of 

Mexico oil spill, alleging the company has long put profits ahead of 

safety and now faces potentially billions in losses because of the 

ongoing disaster. A shareholder derivative suit was filed in New 

Orleans federal court and a similar class action is being filed in 

Alabama by 40-plus BP shareholders who contend the company's allegedly 

poor safety record, coupled with the oil rig accident, could ultimately 

destroy the company.

 

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202457970362&src=EMC-Email&et=ed

itorial&bu=Law.com&pt=Law.com%20Newswire%20Update&cn=LAWCOM_NewswireUpd <http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202457970362&src=EMC-Email&et=ed> 

ate_20100511&kw=BP%20Shareholders%20Head <http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202457970362&src=EMC-Email&et=ed> %20to%20Court%20Over%20Oil%20Sp

ill%27s%20Damage%20to%20Company

 

 

Regards,

 

 

Donna J. Cunningham, J.D.

Associate Professor of Management

Langdale College of Business

Valdosta State University

Valdosta, GA 31698

Office: (229) 249-2606

Cell: (229) 444-3624