Samurai v shareholders

摘要

"To be blunt," explained Takao Kita bata, the vice-minister of Japan's powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (meti), "shareholders in general do not have the ability to run a company. They are fickle and irresponsible. They only take on a limited responsibility, but they greedily demand high dividend payments." Mr Kitabata's remarks at a seminar on January 24th do not represent the official government line, but they encapsulate Japanese attitudes towards activist investors, almost all of whom are foreign.