Champion of better capitalism
On the radio on Saturday UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove was asked about his party’s promise to plant 50000 trees. The interviewer points out that his government had failed to deliver on similar promises made in both 2015 and 2017. So why should we believe … Continue readingThe La-La Land of Election Promises – and why no-one talks about implementation
As I commented in a recent piece (Unicorns or Monsters) I vividly remember my visit to Silicon Valley in 1994. Entrepreneurs with ideas were closely connected to nearby venture capitalists with money to invest. That money had been made by the previous cohort of … Continue readingWhy Big Tech Has Become Like the Banks – the new cloud on the horizon
I shuddered reading the report last week of the Boeing CEOs testimony to Congress. I heard the old, old story. Emails to superiors from a long-standing employee worried about catastrophic risk. Employee fatigue under management pressure to override safety priorities without delay. Executives and the … Continue readingBoeing – a case study in failed stewardship
Stewardship offers practical and entrepreneurial solutions to the shortcomings of capitalism according to new business book ‘Entrusted’ ‘Entrusted – Stewardship for Responsible Wealth Creation’ offers workable ideas and approaches by which investors and companies can resist short-termism and tackle escalating social, economic and environmental … Continue readingEntrusted
Another investor, Natasha Landell-Mills of Sarasin and Partners, reinforces the case for better stewardship in yesterday’s FT. (Asset managers must use their votes to tackle climate change) She asks why so many fund managers won’t vote for change. Short-termism is the reason. ‘Too many fund … Continue readingInvestors get fiduciary duty wrong and the climate suffers
Climate breakdown is a violation of the rights of the unborn. In an excellent Guardian article (Bad ancestors: does the climate crisis violate the rights of those yet to be born?) Astra Taylor describes lawsuits now in the US courts in which plaintiffs not yet … Continue readingThe future is undervalued – in democracies and in wealth creation
It is 12 years since the chairs and CEOs of 11 global companies from the UK, India, Continental Europe and the USA declared in their report Tomorrow’s Global Company that the purpose of a company is: ‘to provide ever better goods and services in a … Continue reading‘Shareholder vs Stakeholder’ is such a tired debate – let’s move on!
After such depressing reading about the Amazon in last weeks Economist it is good to read this week (10 Aug p 35) about the successful running of the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. Under the governorship of Paulo Hartung, from 2003 to 2010 and 2015 … Continue readingIf only Brazil would cut more public sector perks and less rain forest…
A few days ago, Boris Johnson responded to the charge that he was anti business. His defence? ‘I was one of the very few people who spoke up for the bankers after the global financial crash’ Interesting. Of course strictly speaking banking is … Continue readingA role model banking could do without
The UK papers last weekend were full of the sale of Merlin, the entertainment company, to Kirkbi, who already had a 29% stake in the company. They were especially focused on this comment by Sir John Sunderland, ‘Any news flow, either from the company or because … Continue readingGetting the right purpose depends on having the right ownership