BP Revisited

Professor J,

What a week in the news! I can't help thinking that Fox canceled Glen Beck's show too soon. He could be putting that blackboard to really good use. Sex scandals are so much more fun to diagram than connections to the Illuminati. ;)

As a matter of fact, it's the kind of thing that is much more fun to think about than things like crashing over the fiscal cliff and what the implications of that might be. The escalating trouble between Israel and Gaza is getting more attention though. Apparently war is a sexier topic than economics.

But there is one piece of news that came full circle from the beginnings of this blog. Our very first postings were about the BP oil spill. You might remember that I asked you what solution it was that you would like to see. Here was your answer:

The solution, maybe a fantasy one, would see corporate law and regulation changed dramatically, primarily in the arena of personal accountability, and the enforcement of existing law and regulation about this. These days, the “corporate veil” (which is not an unsound idea in and of itself) is rarely pierced by the judicial system for criminal liability, and almost never pierced for anything else, to financially or otherwise punish the arrogantly disdainful and near-utterly disconnected managements and boards who inflict the colossal damage we’ve been discussing. It would also be nice if our legislators and executive agents actually held managements and boards truly accountable, but again, that would be a bit like asking a bribed judge to hold Tammany Hall accountable. This idea that corporations should have the same First Amendment protections that individuals have has also made a terrible travesty of true justice.

The reader can read the entire post here.

Can you give us your opinion on the agreement announced today by the Attorney General?

Here's an article from Huffington Post: BP Oil Spill Settlement 

While we are recovering from the election and you are trying to get to answering JC's questions, I  know you'll want something else to analyze! :)