I have mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand, I generally feel that if a company's board of directors wants to shoot the company in the foot, then t

I have mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand, I generally feel that if a company's board of directors wants to shoot the company in the foot, then the shareholders, not the government, have the duty to wrestle away the gun. On the other hand, there's a real principal-agent problem here--there are so many layers between the shareholders and the compensation committee, and so many perverse incentives, that it's easy for the directors to make decisions that are not in the shareholders' best interest.