(...) Darrell West of the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, notes the decline of the idea that companies are creatures of the state, given the privilege of incorporation in return for pursuing a broad public purpose.
This all sounds very enlightened. But who will decide whether new companies are likely to serve the public good? Will a committee of the great and the good interrogate young app designers about the social benefits of their inventions? Will foreign competitors who are not required to pass a public-interest test be barred from the market? Or domestic entrepreneurs who choose to incorporate abroad?
(...) As for Mr West and the supposed virtues of companies as creatures of the state, the one-word response to that is: Petrobras.
(...) Darrell West of the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, notes the decline of the idea that companies are creatures of the state, given the privilege of incorporation in return for pursuing a broad public purpose.
This all sounds very enlightened. But who will decide whether new companies are likely to serve the public good? Will a committee of the great and the good interrogate young app designers about the social benefits of their inventions? Will foreign competitors who are not required to pass a public-interest test be barred from the market? Or domestic entrepreneurs who choose to incorporate abroad?
(...) As for Mr West and the supposed virtues of companies as creatures of the state, the one-word response to that is: Petrobras.