The Financial Meltdown of 2008 and the Government\u27s Intervention: Much Needed Relief or Major Erosion of American Corporate Law? The Continuing Story of Bank of America, Citigroup, and General Motors

(Excerpt) This Article explores these questions and more with respect to the current role the government is playing in three corporations—Bank of America, General Motors, and Citigroup— and the relevant issues raised within corporate law. Specifically, this Article discusses whether boards of directors may have acted in such a way that potentially breaches traditional fiduciary duties—duties of due care, loyalty, and good faith—and whether the business judgment rule still protects these boards when they were pressured by the government. Furthermore, this Article also explores whether there were violations under Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the duty of candor required in Delaware, and the duty of fairness. This Article also analyzes the duties the government owes fellow shareholders when it acts as either a majority or controlling shareholder and addresses the idea that the U.S. government may be beginning to engage in what many foreign governments already utilize, the golden share. Part I discusses the financial crisis of 2008 with respect to Bank of America, General Motors, and Citigroup. Part II summarizes the traditional triad of fiduciary duties owed by, and legal protections provided to, boards of directors under common law. Part III details the fiduciary duties owed by directors to shareholders under the duty of candor in Delaware. Part IV discusses additional relevant laws and issues, including Rule 10b-5, the duty of directors to be fair to all shareholders, and the duty of loyalty owed by majority and controlling shareholders to minority shareholders. Part V analyzes all the legal implications of the financial crisis of 2008 with respect to the three profiled companies

The Financial Meltdown of 2008 and the Government\u27s Intervention: Much Needed Relief or Major Erosion of American Corporate Law? The Continuing Story of Bank of America, Citigroup, and General Motors

(Excerpt) This Article explores these questions and more with respect to the current role the government is playing in three corporations—Bank of America, General Motors, and Citigroup— and the relevant issues raised within corporate law. Specifically, this Article discusses whether boards of directors may have acted in such a way that potentially breaches traditional fiduciary duties—duties of due care, loyalty, and good faith—and whether the business judgment rule still protects these boards when they were pressured by the government. Furthermore, this Article also explores whether there were violations under Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the duty of candor required in Delaware, and the duty of fairness. This Article also analyzes the duties the government owes fellow shareholders when it acts as either a majority or controlling shareholder and addresses the idea that the U.S. government may be beginning to engage in what many foreign governments already utilize, the golden share. Part I discusses the financial crisis of 2008 with respect to Bank of America, General Motors, and Citigroup. Part II summarizes the traditional triad of fiduciary duties owed by, and legal protections provided to, boards of directors under common law. Part III details the fiduciary duties owed by directors to shareholders under the duty of candor in Delaware. Part IV discusses additional relevant laws and issues, including Rule 10b-5, the duty of directors to be fair to all shareholders, and the duty of loyalty owed by majority and controlling shareholders to minority shareholders. Part V analyzes all the legal implications of the financial crisis of 2008 with respect to the three profiled companies

Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To determine if a school based educational programme aimed at reducing consumption of carbonated drinks can prevent excessive weight gain in children. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Six primary schools in southwest England. Participants 644 children aged 7-11 years. Intervention Focused educational programme on nutrition over one school year. Main outcome measures Drink consumption and number of overweight and obese children. Results Consumption of carbonated drinks over three days decreased by 0.6 glasses (average glass size 250 ml) in the intervention group but increased by 0.2 glasses in the control group (mean difference 0.7, 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 1.3). At 12 months the percentage of overweight and obese children increased in the control group by 7.5%, compared with a decrease in the intervention group of 0.2% (mean difference 7.7%, 2.2% to 13.1%). Conclusion A targeted, school based education programme produced a modest reduction in the number of carbonated drinks consumed, which was associated with a reduction in the number of overweight and obese children

The Integrative Market Hypothesis for Stock Market Fluctuations

This article provides a new understanding of stock market price fluctuations, applying the concepts of quantum physics. This new approach challenges traditional theories of stock price movement, such as Random Walk, finding them antiquated and incomplete. The paper compares the stock price fluctuations to the quantum movement of particles. Specifically, the movement of stock prices on the NASDAQ index is fitted to a curve derived from Plank\u27s equation for black body radiation. The market is ultimately found to be not totally reactive nor random, but taking on an emergent quality. This independent movement is not expected from the interaction of individual traders. These results are astonishing as they are contrary to the prevalent reactive view of market price movement and suggest a radically new understanding of the market. A parallel to human consciousness is drawn to help explain this new understanding. Ultimately, this article is meant to provide a new perspective on the stock market and not as an exhaustive theory of it

Identifying significant contributors to milk production in the absence of the Herd Size Effect

Prior to the commencement of deregulation from 1 July 2000, the Australian Dairy Research and Development Corporation conducted a large-scale telephone survey of 1826 Australian dairy farms to examine the current on-farm management practices in relation to milk production and farm and farmer demographics. The questionnaire results from the 214 dairy farms in the sub-tropical region of South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales were analysed (Zamykal et al. 2007) to uncover those significant inputs that affect milk production