[TriLUG] OT: PT One tech issue from tonight's debate

[Joseph Mack NA3T]

On Fri, 19 Oct 2012, Chris Merrill wrote:

> On 10/19/2012 3:59 PM, Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:
>> On Fri, 19 Oct 2012, Chris Merrill wrote:
>>
>>> And why shouldn't they do that? That is their job, after 
>>> all (delivering value to their stockholders).
>>
>> It's not true at now and never has been. The only 
>> obligations a company has to its shareholders occur at 
>> bankruptcy.
>
> I'm sorry, but it sounds like you don't understand how 
> corporations work.

I'm the first to admit that there's a lot I don't know about 
corporations. Are you saying that

"The only obligations a company has to its shareholders 
occur at bankruptcy."

is false?

I read this statement in the business section of either the 
NYT or the Guardian recently, in an article on the myth that 
shareholders have so much power.

> They do what their owners (shareholders) tell them to do. 
> If the shareholders tell them "make me money as fast as 
> you can regardless of the consequences", then that is what 
> they will (try to) do. This is exactly what the 
> shareholders of most publicly-held companies tell them to 
> do. If the shareholders tell them to pay them dividends, 
> then that is what they do. This is what the vast majority 
> of corporations do - all the ones you've never heard 
> of...the small local businesses.

How do I know that everyone isn't cooperating in the game I 
described in my post and what you describe here is a sham?

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
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