Living in a state of true accountability
Despite the difficulties, one should be accountable more for outcomes than for the decision process.
Tick here if you have understood
Should regulations be clear, transparent and certain? To answer the question one must recognise the importance of informal systems of cultural regulation.
The Third Way
Is the third way simply an eclectic compromise which offers to drop any unpalatable bits from the familiar ideologies of far right and far left? I argue that if there is a third way, this is not where we will find it.
Shame and kudos are the spur
Trying to assess lecturers, doctors, and teachers is difficult. But that doesn’t mean it cannot, or should not, be done.
The Role of Business in Society
The view of business as necessarily selfish, narrow and instrumental, is, as it always has been, nonsense. Business which is selfish in motivation, narrow in outlook, and instrumental in behaviour is rarely successful business.
Outside football league table tells us all we need to know
League tables are in vogue, and despite the difficulties they seem worthwhile. If only it were easy to produce a “value added” table.
Question of duty
It is not satisfactory that the Hampel Report can only offer an account of directors’ duties which is confusing and fundamentally incoherent.
Time to let go
The “regulation” of the banking industry is more like “supervision”. The difference is more than semantic, and the result is less than satisfactory.
Called to account
What are the responsibilities of Shell to society at large? There is a simple answer - and it’s wrong.
Private finance initiative
Public investment is now prioritised according to whether it can be disguised by the private finance initiative: Goodhart’s Law has come into play once again.