How is this different from any other part of the world?

Oh yeah – in US the same old-boy-network works up to the president-level.

I’m not saying the U.S. system is the ideal model but – The U.S. has a much smaller percentage of government-controlled companies.

Perhaps it’s different here because it is denied that this is the case, even though it is pointed out from time to time. Like now.

The board makeup of US corporations do follow similar patterns: you want to have someone on board who have a background in banking and insurance, for example. And many experienced people sit on multiple boards. Yet the key here is how accountable they are for mismanagement, or lackluster performance.

A major trend in the US is the shareholder lawsuit: shareholders are allowed to sue board members for their lackluster performance, or for perceived conflict of interest. Imagine if that happened in Finland! The conflict of interest angle is easily proven when state-owned corporations are involved.

The real problem in Finland is not conflict of interest, but that the public continues to tolerate state involvement in corporations to begin with.

mk: The old-boy network actually works best on the presidential level. The president should have the freedom to surround himself with the people he knows best. That way whatever policy line is taken will have gone through a vetting process that can be quite rigorous. The checks and balances from the outside are well-grounded in the Constitution, and as we have seen during the Clinton administration, quite vigorously used.

In fact, the Constitution basically assigns Congress into the role of the board, which keeps an eye on the Administration/management.

hello
good day
i have great honnor to writ to you
i am lakhdar from algeria 25 old
i want to know abaut your club?

Hi Phil, would you be interested in hosting your own live Virtual Blog Cafe? With a Virtual Blog Cafe you can invite all of your friends for live audio video discussions 24/7 with no long distance fees.

If this is something that sparks your imagination then please send me a quick email.

regards
Richard