Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism 2011-2012

Part One: The global financial crisis stemming from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage markets has had a profound effect on financial professionals and their engagement with their financial expertise worldwide. For example, there is widespread sentiment among Japanese financial market professionals that the era of finance in which financial professionals and their expertise are highly valued has ended. On the one hand, it is clear that the kind of innovation and intellectual excitement that led to the expansion of credit derivatives is unlikely to gain momentum again in the near future. On the other hand, the current acute sense of profound uncertainty facing Japan and elsewhere seems to demand precisely the kind of technique for embracing and dealing with uncertainty that finance has long ostensibly represented. In this paper, I offer an ethnographic glimpse into this predicament confronting global financial market professionals in Japanese financial market specialists’ competing responses to the crisis of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in the aftermath of the nuclear power plant accident that followed the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. The focus of my analysis is the tension between the collective market effort to protect TEPCO and its bond holders in which TEPCO was deemed “too big to fail,” in the names of victims of the accident as well as of the Japanese financial system, and the sporadic effort to arbitrage TEPCO bonds, in the name of reforming the Japanese financial system altogether. What was striking was the way both sides shared deep skepticism about the efficacy and validity of their financial expertise and resignation that TEPCO, and the entire national economy, would certainly sink, albeit preferably slowly. The paper examines financial market professionals’ unexpected agreement to embrace the end of finance and its implications for the critique of capitalism.

Part Two: The global financial crisis stemming from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage markets has had a profound effect on financial professionals and their engagement with their financial expertise worldwide. For example, there is widespread sentiment among Japanese financial market professionals that the era of finance in which financial professionals and their expertise are highly valued has ended. On the one hand, it is clear that the kind of innovation and intellectual excitement that led to the expansion of credit derivatives is unlikely to gain momentum again in the near future. On the other hand, the current acute sense of profound uncertainty facing Japan and elsewhere seems to demand precisely the kind of technique for embracing and dealing with uncertainty that finance has long ostensibly represented. In this paper, I offer an ethnographic glimpse into this predicament confronting global financial market professionals in Japanese financial market specialists’ competing responses to the crisis of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in the aftermath of the nuclear power plant accident that followed the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. The focus of my analysis is the tension between the collective market effort to protect TEPCO and its bond holders in which TEPCO was deemed “too big to fail,” in the names of victims of the accident as well as of the Japanese financial system, and the sporadic effort to arbitrage TEPCO bonds, in the name of reforming the Japanese financial system altogether. What was striking was the way both sides shared deep skepticism about the efficacy and validity of their financial expertise and resignation that TEPCO, and the entire national economy, would certainly sink, albeit preferably slowly. The paper examines financial market professionals’ unexpected agreement to embrace the end of finance and its implications for the critique of capitalism. Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

Part One: From clay to casinos, the corporate structure is not only integrating into the cultural spheres of Native America as well as African tribes, it is being utilized with incredibly lucrative results. How does this affect culture and concepts of disenfranchisement?

Part Two: From clay to casinos, the corporate structure is not only integrating into the cultural spheres of Native America as well as African tribes, it is being utilized with incredibly lucrative results. How does this affect culture and concepts of disenfranchisement? Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

Part One: Hosted by the Penn Law School, Cynthia Estland, from New York University Law, discusses the integral relation unions and worker's voice play in the modern corporate terrain.

Part Two: Hosted by the Penn Law School, Cynthia Estland, from New York University Law, discusses the integral relation unions and worker's voice play in the modern corporate terrain. Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

Part One: The lively round table with Jonathan Harber, CEO of SchoolNet Inc; Michael Moe, Founder of GSV Asset Management; and Peter Smith, VP of Kaplan Higher Education. How healthy is for-profit education for our future generation?

Part Two: The lively round table with Jonathan Harber, CEO of SchoolNet Inc; Michael Moe, Founder of GSV Asset Management; and Peter Smith, VP of Kaplan Higher Education. How healthy is for-profit education for our future generation? Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

Part One: Joel Bakan, from the Law department of University of British Colombia, brings to light the dangers of growing up within the Corporate sphere.

Part Two: Joel Bakan, from the Law department of University of British Colombia, brings to light the dangers of growing up within the Corporate sphere. Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

Part One: Philip Pettit of Princeton University discusses and expands upon points from his work, Responsibility Incorporated.

Part Two: Philip Pettit of Princeton University discusses and expands upon points from his work, Responsibility Incorporated. Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

Part One: Walter Licht and Randall Collins of the University of Pennsylvania discuss the historical context and evolution of the corporation.

Part Two: Walter Licht and Randall Collins of the University of Pennsylvania discuss the historical context and evolution of the corporation. Part Two contains the Q&A session following the speaker and discussant.

In his first annual message to Congress in 1901, President Roosevelt proclaimed: "Great corporations exist only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is theorefore our right and our duty to see that they work in harmony with those institutions." In the aftermath of Enron, the BP oil spill, and revelations about the role of Wall Street in the recent financial collapse, what steps can be taken to insure that for-profit business corporations act in harmony with democratic ideals of modern nations? How can we best insure that successful corporations are also good citizens?