Business Law Must Restrain Human Nature

“Taking Stock,” Ron Unz’s intelligent, witty and satirical Aug. 25 Opinion piece, is a very serious critique of the attitudes of many of the heads of major American corporations today.

Given the chance, they will always “manage earnings” to show their companies in the best possible light. I would go one step further and say that they (CEOs, et al) are also acting as unregulated brokers in some cases.

One example that comes to mind is where they buy companies, peel off and sell what they see as no longer profitable, repackage the remaining assets and sell them to the highest bidder within 18 to 24 months.

They are no longer in the business of providing services and quality products to the community or to sticking it out in the long run. They are more interested in responding to short-term goals that have nothing to do with the business they are in. Unfortunately, Wall Street analysts and others have also contributed to the making of this dismal state of affairs.

The bottom line is that we cannot govern effectively by believing that corporate leaders will always act from a noble impulse when many powerful and diametrically opposing forces (and opportunities) are saying otherwise. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was right: It isn’t that human nature has changed; it is what it is. It’s the legal infrastructure and the lack of enforcement that allow us to act in ways that are not in America’s (i.e., the middle class’) best interest. This is what needs to be changed.

Samuel J. Hasson

Glendale