1. Should value maximization be the primary concern of businesses? What other concerns might businesses have? Has the principle of value maximization led to unintended consequences? What are some of these consequences? How has the internet impacted the idea of value maximization? 2. What is systemic risk? Is systemic risk still a factor in the economy? Has systemic risk been eliminated? How have regulations attempted to mitigate systemic risk? 3. Is regulation of financial markets necessary? What are the arguments in favor of maintaining the amount of financial regulation? What are some arguments in favor of reducing financial regulation. Do the safeguards enacted as a result of regulation offset the increased costs of regulation? 4. Why is cash flow so important to the health of a business? Why do analysts focus on cash flow rather than other measures of financial performance? Can a company have good earnings results without generating a positive cash flow over a long period of time? 5. If you were starting your own company, which form of business organization would you choose? Why? Why did you reject the other forms of business organization? 6. Do you believe that bankers and others implicated in the Great Recession of 2008/2009 should have been punished for their misdeeds instead of allowing them to avoid any form of punishment? Why or why not?