I wrote this essay in the summer of 2007, when corporate greed seemed like not much more than an irritant. Now, knowing what we know about the recklessness on Wall Street that went hand-in-hand with the greed, and now that we know the greed involved truly unfathomable sums of money, the essay seems quaint to me. Here goes:

Does it seem like there’s an awful lot of “me” and not much “us” in the world today? People rally around when there’s a crisis, of course, but those situations pass quickly and people move on. Where’s the follow-through? And, in normal times, where is the concern for others? And the shame?

Imagine yourself as the Chief Executive Officer of a public