Announcement of a Symposium on

Securing the Future of Freedom: Rethinking Corporate Freedom

Organizer: Nirmal Sethia, Professor of Management
August 2-3, 2016 at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

We are hosting a by invitation only symposium this summer as a forum for a select group of
scholars and thought leaders from a variety of disciplines to engage in an urgently needed
dialogue about some of the most critical issues of the day.

Our political economy is at a watershed moment facing a brand new reality ushered in, to
universal astonishment, by a reality TV star and a self-proclaimed socialist. The most salient
aspect of this new reality is its revelation that in the eyes of a vast number of Americans free
market capitalism has degenerated into crony capitalism, the political system has become
rigged, and our democracy is being overwhelmed by plutocracy. In this climate, a central target
in question is the free market system, regarded as sacrosanct till yesterday. Furthermore, many
tie the ills of the market to unrestrained corporate freedom and power, and call for reigning in
corporate America. Others attribute these ills to our excessive and exclusionary devotion to a
value that for generations has stood at the heart of American identitythe idea of individual
liberty, and call for other values such as equality and social justice to be allowed in. And in
many instances these calls are marked by a degree of passion that overwhelms reason.

Against this backdrop of unprecedented challenges to the reigning paradigm of political

economy, in our symposium we intend to engage in a sober discussion about how we came to
such cynical distrust of our political and economic institutions, and propose viable ideas about
the path forward. In service of a broader search for a new order of political economy our
specific focus will be on how to contain the propensity of corporate freedom for fueling
concentration of wealth and power in business hands to the detriment of both individual liberty
and market freedom as well as democracy, while at the same time sustain its potential as the
font of entrepreneurship and innovation essential to our wellbeing.

We have 18 speakers representing multiple disciplines and diverse points of view, and three
other colleagues will offer formal comments and critique. Nearly 40% of the program time will
devoted to discussion and dialogue.

For more information about the symposium please contact Professor Nirmal Sethia at Cal Poly
Pomona by email: nksethia@cpp.edu .

June 19, 2016