Surveys the development of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in the USA, Canada, Japan and the EU. Suggests that ESOPs are driven by management in the USA but are culturally approved by both sides of industry in Japan. Describes the European system as emphasizing profit sharing instead...

The conventional wisdom regarding the rationale for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPS) holds that such plans provide incentives for improved worker productivity. This view minimizes the employees' portfolio problem inherent in ESOP participation — employment risk for ESOP participants is...

In principle, there is no compelling reason for any nation to pay its debts. National sovereignty precludes a creditor nation from attaching assets within the debtor nation's borders and a poor nation usually has few assets outside of its boundaries. In practice, nations do pay their debts. Our...