Joel Bakan, The Corporation--The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.(Harry Glasbeek, Wealth by Stealth--Corporate Crime, Corporate Law and the Perversion of Democracy)(Book Review)

Joel Bakan, The Corporation--The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (Toronto: Viking Canada 2004) Harry Glasbeek, Wealth by Stealth--Corporate Crime, Corporate Law and the Perversion of Democracy (Toronto: Between the Lines 2002)

THESE TWO BOOKS are good companions. Glasbeek's book, while very rich in Canadian content and examples, is a much more academic and difficult read for the neophyte to corporate law and crime. Bakan's book reads more like a popularized version of Glasbeek's book, with predominantly American examples. He builds upon a series of interviews with leading economists and business people who explain the history, workings, and problems of corporations. Both authors discuss corporate influence, the corporate push to soften and avoid regulations, corporate deviance and crime, and challenging corporate rule.

Bakan and Glasbeek explain how corporations gained the right to be treated as legal "persons," giving them the same rights as any other citizen to free speech. Protected by law under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada, and the First Amendment in the US, corporations use this right to influence the government and the public. As persons, they have more say than unions which can be silenced by the government in various ways (i.e. denial of the right to strike). Corporations use various strategies (i.e. think-tanks, lobbying) to create a business friendly climate. This climate includes the softening or removal of regulations. …