[lbo-talk] Bernie Sander's "saving democracy" amendment

michael perelman michael.perelman3 at gmail.com
Sun Feb 5 11:16:56 PST 2012


There is a difference between abolishing corporations and abolishing corporate personhood.  The history of these two concepts is fairly complex.  Didn't the English Kings create a corporate charter for London to give the city representation in Parliament as a partial check on aristocratic power, which did not like paying taxes?  Later, states gave corporate charters to monopolies, which were expected to pay big kickbacks to the government from their profits. In the United States, corporate charters were initially given only if the proposed Corporation were able to perform a public service, such as improving transportation or supplying water to the people.  Under the Jackson administration, corporate charters were more freely granted, but corporations were still somewhat controversial for the next couple decades.

If my history is mistaken, I will be happy to be corrected. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929

530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com



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