tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2342100421756914597.post8889913001567100484..comments2024-01-12T18:45:52.043-05:00Comments on The Weekly Sift: Buying and OwningDoug Muderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04666144843949850394noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2342100421756914597.post-57750779441938845022015-05-26T12:28:31.663-04:002015-05-26T12:28:31.663-04:00Thanks for writing, from a long-time reader.
On i...Thanks for writing, from a long-time reader.<br /><br />On investment principles, you wrote " I've never come up with a theory of socially responsible investing I like." Then "But I'm still no closer to a principle. If you have one you're happy with, please talk about it in the comments."<br /><br />I'm confident someone wiser and ore eloquently has said something like, "If you don't like the rules and options of the system, take a hard look at the rules of the system." (I was able to find pithier quotes encouraging action: "if you don't like the rules of the game, change them.")<br /><br />It seems like the system you're not liking the options of is the contemporary US corporate shareholding system.<br /><br />Marjorie Kelly tells the history of the corporate shareholding system and critiques it in <i>The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy</i>. I highly recommend it.<br /><br />From my understanding, it's not just that Plains spokespeople believe they represent you, it's that they are required by law to make you (a shareholder) the most money (legally) possible. If they take anything else into account which would keep them from maximizing the amount of money they make for you, they could be sued by you or other shareholders. (And, by the way, as a shareholder, you have a perpetual, heritable right to a share of the company's profits in perpetuity, having taken no action.)<br /><br />Kelly describes alternative corporate structures and approaches.<br /><br />And, of course, lawmakers and regulators could change laws and regulations to (further) constrain the actions permissible to maximize shareholder returns.<br /><br />I'm sure you have a long reading list, but I hope you'll take a look at Marjorie Kelly's <i>The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy</i> (and if you find something useful in in it, share it with us readers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com