Hey North Dakota, Get out of the News

For the third day in a row, North Dakota is in the news.  So much for being conservative and never fancy.  This week it seems like that great plains state is being a media whore trying to steal the limelight.  It came to light today that apparently ND is dabbling in changing corporate law by instituting reforms designed to solve some of the criticisms of Delaware corporate law:

Secretary of State Al Jaeger, who thinks the law might attract business to North Dakota, supports the effort. “Our position was … we will build it,” Jaeger told the Journal. “If somebody wants to come and play in our ball field, that’s great.”

The North Dakota law is unlikely to draw much business to the state soon, experts say. But activist investors say the North Dakota law adds fuel to the debate over shareholder rights and oversight, which has intensified during the financial crisis.

See Law Blog – WSJ.com : North Dakota Sends Delaware a Wake-Up Call on Corporate Governance (links added).

[Begins slow clap . . . no one joins . . . starts typing again]

Maybe this just interests me because I’m currently enrolled in Business Associations.  Or maybe because I’m from ND I’m contractually bound to point out the state any time it appears in the national media.  Maybe I’m just addicted to the song of the western meadow lark.  I just don’t know.

Either way, I can’t remember the last time North Dakota was in the national news three days in a row [well maybe during the 1997 flood].  But here’s to you North Dakota, for trying to steal business from Delaware while Joe Biden isn’t standing guard on a slow news day.

I’m just going to pretend that this, “The Pride of Fargo” story doesn’t exist.

By the way ND, get out of the news: you’re blocking my view.