This is the first of three articles on corporate governance issues. ― Ed.We don’t let students grade their own exams, but we let CEOs chair their own boards. At 281 of the S&P 500 companies, the chairman is the current chief executive officer. At 38 of the 500, the chairman is a former executive or has some other connection to the CEO or company. And at 72 others, the chairman is listed as an independent outside director, yet a closer look too often reveals relationships that squeezed through lo

The Obama administration has quietly issued new bureaucratic rules that overturned the popular welfare reform law of 1996. This illegal move completely undoes years of progress that helped millions of Americans.The 1996 reform replaced the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). At the core of TANF were federal work standards that required able-bodied welfare recipients to work, prepare for work, or at least

The main opposition Democratic United Party is seeking to revise a set of labor laws in its bid to enhance the fundamental rights of workers. Yet the party’s move could undermine the current relative stability in industrial relations. The party is focusing on workers’ rights as part of its campaign to “democratize the economy.” Economic democratization ― a new buzz word among domestic political parties ― involves two key aspects. One is to level the playing field between large and small companie

The Fair Trade Commission has slapped a subsidiary of Lotte Group with a 650 million won ($562,000) fine for providing unfair financial support to a zombie sister company. The fine was imposed on Lotte PS Net, an affiliate that takes care of automatic teller machines installed at the group’s department stores and discount stores. According to the commission, Lotte PS Net purchased a total of 3,534 ATMs between September 2009 and last month. The acquisition was made not directly from the manufact

When I was a little kid, there was a game I used to play while out and about with my family. Every time we came upon an escalator, I’d run ahead and charge up it as fast as I could, just so I could then stand at the top and “pull” everyone else up by the moving handrail. When they joined me at the top, I’d proudly claim full responsibility. No one could escape being pawns in my victory if they were on that escalator. It was their own fault if they didn’t take the stairs.I was about 5 at the time

Assad’s regime should be finished. There have been numerous defections: a Syrian pilot, a brigadier general, and a high ranking diplomat. Assad’s grip on power has been crumbling. His regime even desperately lashed out by attacking a Turkish fighter jet. This is likened to a wounded animal that is taking vicious last bites before it dies. Meanwhile, the U.N. is doing pretty much nothing about ending his regime sooner. Instead, we are letting the regime inflict extraordinarily heinous crimes agai

Every now and then, an army of experts goes around proclaiming the end of China’s economy. Since mid-July 2012, the new song is about China being a bubble and the bubble bursting. Giving the answers right away: Yes, China’s economy is weakening; Yes, there are troubling signals; No, China is not a bubble; No, the bubble is not bursting.What is wrong with China?Chinese economic authorities have revised their growth-forecast from 8 percent to 7.5 percent for the year 2012. This rate, taken for fac

The U.S. presidential election, by some accounts, is sinking to record depths of negativity and nastiness, with unprecedented attacks on Wall Street, especially the private-equity industry. It’s enough to send the children inside. Except that it isn’t true. There are still more than 100 days to go, but so far the tone and tenor of the contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is tame by historical standards. The Republican candidate has said the preside

Warnings about the impact of the euro crisis on Korea’s economy are now coming one after another. But Korean is already being drawn into an economic emergency. The question now is: Are top Korean economic policymakers prepared to tackle this problem head-on as they did during the 2008 financial crisis? In a July 16 market update of its Global Financial Stability Report, the International Monetary Fund said Asia appears better shielded from the eurozone crisis than other regions ― but not Korea,

Professor Ahn Cheol-soo is regarded by many as having virtually declared his bid for the presidency when he published a book on his political and economic views last Thursday. Yet, he neither confirms nor denies that his intention to run in the December election. Nor does he mention when he will make what he calls the “lonely decision” on his candidacy. His vagueness, which has continued since he abandoned his desire for the Seoul mayoralty in support of the like-minded Park Won-soon last year,

In announcing that she would soon be a new mother, Marissa Mayer, the new chief executive officer of Yahoo! Inc., made one thing perfectly clear: She wouldn’t be taking maternity leave. More precisely, Mayer said she would grab just a few weeks away from the office and would work at home the whole time. Many been-there-done-that moms scoffed. Just wait until she experiences the labor, the every-two-hours feedings and the moments of intense joy in between, she’ll change her mind. This would not b