Capitalism Must Throw The Book At Its Culprits

  
For capitalism to retain public faith we need a system where the rich can get poorer as well as the poor richer. There need to be snakes as well as ladders in the boardroom board game.

Individual accountability for sins is the big omission in too much of contemporary capitalism. To use an analogy that the bosses of VW might understand: we need the corporate equivalent of a sharp spike in the middle of a car’s steering wheel. If the consequences of dangerous driving were greater we might have safer roads. The same is true of corporate stewardship. If there are no downsides in excessive risk-taking, only upsides, then shareholders should not be surprised if CEOs lead their companies to catastrophe.

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