Responsible Business: Weaving the Fabric of a Stable Marketplace

American Business Law Journal, July, 2007 by Abramov, Igor

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tim, thank you for inviting me to speak at this important conference. I am pleased to be here on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce.1

I. BACKGROUND

Those of you who know me know how dear my carpet collection is to me. To me, they are fascinating. When you walk into my house, you see carpets on the floor and hanging on the walls.

One of the reasons hand-woven carpets fascinate me so much is that there are only a handful of basic elements in any carpet - your warp, weft, and small knots of yarn. But when combined in the hands of a master craftsman, these three simple inputs evolve into countless designs and enduring products.

Business is much the same. There are just a few basic elements that are common to every...