In this session, I look at the ramifications of the recent statement from the Business Roundtable, where 181 CEOs of large US companies seemed to be pointing companies towards meeting stakeholder interests rather than maximize shareholder value. While the concept has allure, since it does seem to offer the promise of everyone happy, I argue that is will not only leave all stakeholders worse off but remove all accountability from the system. I present five different versions of corporatism, from the cutthroat corporatism of robber barons to crony corporatism, where governments and rule writers are coopted, to managerial corporatism which makes managers the power behind the throne to constrained corporatism, where shareholder wealth is maximized but with constraints protecting other stakeholders. Slides:
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