Andrew Potter, a writer for Macleans.ca, raises an seemingly interesting issue…
What if the corporation, despite what we think we know about their activities in harming the environment, plundering public programs whenever possible, and treating its workforce in an ever increasingly shoddy way, is truly a slave of the Left? What if the true ire towards the corporation is coming, ever increasingly and justifiably, from the Right?
What if… bear with me now… what if the corporation is not a rapacious juggernaut laying waste to the planet and its resources and is, in fact, beholden to ‘special interests,’ like environmental groups and human rights organizations?
The proof of this thesis is offered up as follows: Drug companies are considering offering drugs to AIDS patients in the third world at reduced costs, British Petroleum has re-branded as Beyond Petroleum, and a select group of companies out there are ‘being drawn into the global warming issue.‘ Damning accusations, to be sure.
It’s becoming an oft repeated argument finding traction with Milton-Friedman-as-gospel commentators that Enron wasn’t the fault of unfettered greed by a corporation. In fact, Andrew Potter argues, the Enron debacle happened primarily because management wasn’t keeping a tight rein on spending. Their crime was not being corporate enough. It wasn’t the public who got screwed, he also helpfully points out, it was the shareholders. What are the rest of us whining about?!?
One of the problems with making up history in support of your argument is that you have to ignore huge swaths of the record in order to make your case. Potter’s take on history comes apart when one begins remembering what Enron actually did during its existence, and not just the final coup that killed it. The orchestrated California energy crisis, fraud, unethical behavior and a myriad of corporate malfeasance, most of which stemmed from as far back as 1996. The shareholders weren’t the only ones living through rolling blackouts on account of Enron and other energy corps holding the state hostage during peak hours, regardless of the collective faulty memory of the business communitee.
One would be willing to cut Andrew Potter some slack for his piece, were it not for the group ‘dedicated to reintroducing free-enterprise values into the corporate world‘ that he introduces to his readers. They are called the Free Enterprise Action Fund, which he explains ‘seeks to stiffen the spine of management, encouraging it to resist pressure from activists and keep focused on the task of operating the business in the interest of shareholders.‘
It is an interesting choice of example, and again, an interesting case of factual omission. What Potter fails to mention is that the FEAF is a mutual fund operated by Steven Milloy and Tom Borelli. You might know Steve, a registered lobbyist from 1998 through 2000, with clients including the American Petroleum Institute, Dow Chemical, the International Food Additives Council, and FMC Corporation.
Steve, when he’s not busy saving Exxon from being criticized for funding global warming skeptics, is the Junk Science (i.e., global warming and ozone depletion) commentator for FoxNews.com. He’s been criticized for a variety of unethical actions and statements, like dismissing EPA reports regarding the dangers of smoking. He’s also been accused of making misleading and false claims, and for offering ‘impartial journalism’ attacking global warming while accepting funding from big oil, as well as offering health related reporting under editorial oversight from big tobacco.
Big tobacco, by the way, is where Tom Borelli comes from. He is the former head of corporate scientific affairs for Philip Morris. That himself and Steve have no actual money management experience to speak of doesn’t make an appearance in Potters work either, but methinks it’s pertinent for the readers to know that the mutual fund he is highlighting is run by people with no qualifications outside of a proven ability to lie to others about the harm being done by their business associates. And we all remember what that got us with Enron.
Even if Andrew Potter apparently does not…