"Nearly seventy years after the last great stock market bubble and collapse in 1929, another bubble emerged and burst in the late 1990s and early 2000s, despite a protective layer of regulation designed since the 1930s to help prevent such things - or at least contain the damage. The most recent bubble was enormous, reflecting nearly twenty years of double-digit stock market growth, and its bursting had predictably painful consequences. The search for culprits and market excesses began quickly, and many were discovered. The targets included not only a number of overreaching corporations, but also their auditors, investment bankers, lawyers, and their investors. Governing the Modern Corporation analyzes the structure of market capitalism and what went wrong during one of the must turbulent times in American and indeed global finance." "Smith and Walter begin by examining the developments that have made modern financial markets - now capitalized globally at about $70 trillion - so enormous, so volatile, and such a source of wealth (and temptation) for all players. They report on the evolving role and function of the business corporation, the duties of its officers and directors, and the power of chief executive officers who are inventivized to manage the company to achieve as favorable a stock price as possible." "The authors suggest that all of the market's professional players - executives, investors, experts, and intermediaries themselves - need to refocus on their core fiduciary obligations to the shareholders, clients, and investors whom they represent. More needs to be done to find ways for these fiduciaries to be held accountable for the appropriate and disciplined discharge of their duties."--BOOK JACKET