Why are US corporate profits so high? Because wages are so low

Re:Why are US corporate profits so high? Because wages are s... by Xylakant on Monday January 27, 2014 @09:58AM (#7130558)

> The managers, people who run the company, have an obligation to maximize the profits (in US, and probably UK), otherwise the shareholders can sue them for loosing their money, even if they did the morally right thing.

Nope. You certainly got it wrong. See the linked posts from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7129788. One of the potential source for that confusion might be that directors decisions can be challenged on the presumption that they are wasteful, but you'd have to prove that paying a decent wage is wasteful which is a very hard hurdle to overcome. Bad faith may be another option - but that's a different story.

Being traded on the stock market provides a lot of incentive to maximize profits since more profitable companies trade better - but it's not a legal requirement.

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Re:Why are US corporate profits so high? Because wages are s... by garfelnagel on Monday January 27, 2014 @06:29PM (#7134147)

Those who ignore history etc etc. go back to the 70's and 80's and you will find investor lawsuits over boards being financially negligent with investor money. That is one of the reasons we find ourselves in this mess today.

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