It is the business of business . . .

[flamin lib]

In response to the two posts linked below I submit the simple premise that the BUSINESS OF BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. A pretty simple statement but carrying more than most textbooks convey.

Business has no conscience and frankly should not have. Businesses, or Corporations if you choose, have no responsibility to do “the right thing” and are bound by law to maximize profits and return on investment to the stockholders regardless of what society may see as “the right thing”. They are bound by statute to foul the earth, abuse their employees and manufacture shoddy product if it increases the bottom line. To do otherwise would hold the Board of Directors open to law suits for malfeasance.

Further, I submit that anyone who invests in a company that would do otherwise is a fool because unless “doing the right thing” can overcome competition that adheres to the concept of THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS IS BUSINESS the company will fold leaving it’s investors and employees at a loss. Witness the success of Walmart and the demise of Mom & Pop where they compete.

This is where good governance and the rule of law come into play. It is the BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT TO BE THE CONSCIENCE OF BUSINESS; to provide a level playing field so that all business profit not only the shareholders but their employees and society as a whole.

If the US were to hold it’s foreign trading partners to the same level of human rights and environmental regulation as our domestic companies it would raise the living standards of those peoples to our own. The way we are going about things now the effect of free trade is to lower our living standard to that of second and third world countries while sending jobs off-shore raising the unemployment rate here.

We can change that.

It’s simple; if you trade with the US you will treat your workers and the world around you with dignity and respect, provide a living wage, a safe work place and deliver safe products to our shores or you will no longer trade with the US. If you are a large corporation it is illegal for local entities to give tax or other incentives that would disadvantage the competition. Don’t ask because you won’t get. There will be NO exceptions to the EPA guidelines, Clean Air or Clean Water regulations. Not for large, small or foreign companies trading in the United States.

This is the business of Government.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=389&topic_id=4745640&mesg_id=4745640

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4739832&mesg_id=4739832

[sinkingfeeling]

1. A couple of questions. First, who will determine what the 'living wage', dignity and respect for

employees, and 'safety' will be? We can't even enforce any of those things here in the USA, how would we be able to do so elsewhere? The first thing this country needs to do is to repel the treatment of corporations as citizens.

[flamin lib]

2. You and me.

Through the people we elect.

Treating corporations as corporations is part of the process.

It is the business of GOOD government to be the conscience of business.

Can we do it?

Yes we can.

[ogneopasno]

3. It's the business of government to uphold and enforce the laws that give workers the power

to bargain collectively for their own wages, working conditions, standards and benefits. I agree with some of what you are saying but not all.

[flamin lib]

4. Talk to me. What issues have you? Maybe I'm wrong. nt

[noiretextatique]

5. your view is outdated...good business requires good citizenship

if your business pollutes the environment, you comnpany risks not only government sanctions (when we have sane government), but also loss of business and reputation. in the 70's Ford put the Pinto on the market with full knowledge that is might explode when rear-ended. according to you, that was a perfectly sound business decision, but i think that decision was immoral. it was also illegal, but Ford decided it would be cheaper to pay for the people who died rather than fix the problem with the Pinto. it is true that business cannot be trusted to police itself, but even business schools recognize the need to train a new breed of business people.

[flamin lib]

6. So, what we are experiencing now is . . . what?

fiction?

my imagination?

fantasy?

No, friend, it is business at it's basic nature.

The business of business is business. Period.

Without government oversight this is what you get.

Learn from it.

We can change it.

Yes, we can.

[noiretextatique]

7. i absolutely agree

what we are experiencing now is the result of ideology. conservafools believe less regulation is good for business and the economy. we are seeing (yet again) the absolutely wrong-headedness of that belief.
we are experiencing the results of voodoo economics.