Corporations are often so focused on making short-term profits for their stockholders that they behave in ways that adversely affect their employees, the environment, consumers, American politics, and even the long-term well-being of the corporation, says Lawrence Mitchell in this provocative book. This is a significant issue not only in the United States but also in the world, for many countries are beginning to emulate the American model of corporate governance. Mitchell criticises this emphasis on profit maximisation and the corporate legal structure that encourages it, and he offers concrete proposals to bring about more socially responsible corporate behavior. Mitchell declares that managers should be freed from the legal and structural constraints that make it difficult for them to exercise ordinary moral judgment and be held accountable for their actions. He suggests, for example, that earnings reports be required annually rather than quarterly, that the capital gains tax be increased on stocks held for fewer than thirty days, and that elections of corporate boards of directors be held every five years rather than every year. Mitchell places the problem of corporate irresponsibility within the broader context of American life and demonstrates the extent to which contemporary corporate behaviour represents a corruption of our cherished liberal values of personal freedom and individuality.

`This volume is a rich collection of essays on the most important financial crisis since the 1930s. Here, the authoritative writers offer trenchant insights on this crisis. Mitchell and Wilmarth are much to be commended for gathering this valuable material in a volume easily accessible to analysts, students, scholars, and anyone alarmed by the panic of 2008. Read it and grow wiser in the ways of financial crises.' - Robert F. Bruner, University of Virginia, US and co-author, The Panic of 1907 The Panic of 2008 brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to examine the causes and consequences of the global credit crisis, the subsequent collapse of the financial markets, and the following recession. The book evaluates the crisis in historical context, explores its various legal, economic, and financial dimensions, and considers various possibilities for reform. The Panic of 2008 is one of the first in-depth efforts to study the crisis as it was in the very earliest stage of resolution, and establishes a foundation for thinking about and evaluating current reform efforts and the likelihood of recurrence. This is a thorough and detailed examination by leading scholars from law, history, finance and economics and as such will be of great interest to the scholarly communities of legal academicians, financial historians, financial economists, and economists. General readers engaged with the ramifications of the financial crisis, including practising lawyers, policymakers, and financial and business professionals, will also find the book invaluable.

Reflecting recent re-examinations of the nature and purpose of the modern publicly held corporation, Progressive Corporate Law introduces the reader to alternative perspectives within the field. The contributors to this volume are loosely bound both by their rejection of the prevailing paradigm of the corporation as a public good designed exclusively for the maximization of private profit and by their affirmative goal of designing corporate laws that accord better with the corporation's political and social realities. The resulting series of visions emphasizes communitarian themes of efficiency and morality of responsibility, altruism, and unity within the corporate form as well as between the corporation and the broader society. Progressive Corporate Law is important reading for business executives, lawyers, policymakers, and others who are concerned with the role of corporations in modem life. Designed to act as a springboard for stimulating discussion, it will be a valuable supplement to courses and seminars in corporate law and business ethics.

The study of corporate governance is a relatively modern development, with significant attention devoted to the subject only during the last fifty years. The topics covered in this volume include the purpose of the corporation, the board of directors, the role of shareholders, and more contemporary developments like hedge fund activism, the role of sovereign wealth funds, and the development of corporate governance law in what perhaps will become the dominant world economy over the next century, China. The editor has written an introductory essay which briefly describes the intellectual history of the field and analyses the material selected for the volume. The papers which have been selected present what the editor believes to be some of the best and most representative studies of the subjects covered. As a result the volume offers a rounded view of the contemporary state of the some of the dominant issues in corporate governance.