The freedom to make contracts is a liberating feature of commercial life, yet too often contracts turn into tyranny, when haggling over fine print makes two sides mis-trust each other. This problem, and some solutions, are explored in this chapter from Margin of Trust: The Berkshire Business...

This is Professor Cunningham's Introduction to his renowned edited collection of Warren Buffett's famous letters to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The collection was originally prepared for a symposium held in New York City in 1997 and has been regularly updated through five editions,...

Berkshire Hathaway, the $300 billion conglomerate that Warren Buffett built, is among the world's largest and most famous corporations. Yet, for all its power and celebrity, few people understand Berkshire, and many assume it cannot survive without Buffett. This book proves them wrong. In a...

Special Note: This Publication is part of The Quality Shareholder Initiative at the Center for Law, Economics and Finance (C-LEAF), at The George Washington University Law School, Prof. Lawrence A. Cunningham, Faculty Director.This Article presents original data and analysis addressing an...

Berkshire Hathaway, among history's largest and most successful corporations, shuns middlemen; its chairman, the legendary investor Warren Buffett, excoriates financial intermediaries. The acquisitive conglomerate rarely borrows money, retains brokers, or hires consultants. Its governance is...

Kathryn Judge of Columbia University documents how financial intermediaries persistently impose high fees compared to the value rendered, attributes this to political influence, and suggests countervailing policy strategies, including stoking competition and enhancing disclosure to reduce...