[A-List] Re: Economist Galbraith blasts corporate greed

[Policyholder@xxxxxxx]

Galbraith is right on this one, but it is not just shareholders who have been shut out of the process.  Policyholders in participating or mutual companies are the supposed owners of the company, expected to receive surpluses ( aka profit) in the form of dividends and have the right to vote in the Board, but the reality is that they do not vote or find the ability to organize, and management becomes "self-perpetuating," and self-serving. Only once, in 1906, was there a serious  attempt by policyholders to vote in their own board, at New York Life, but management had most of the proxies and maintained control over these vast accumulations of investment capital.  Check out Francis Beard's new book, AFTER THE BALL, about the scandal at Equitable Life in 1905.
Richard