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Originally Posted by Flint
But as long as I can stay profitable there isn't any reason I can't run a business that harms a few people, right? I disagree that, in reality, investors would care whether I am harming people, if I can make money for them. I don't believe that the free market itself presents any deterent mechanism whatsoever to the harm of individuals.
To paraphrase Clodfobble: what's another word for "deterent mechanisms" ???
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Of course investors would care. Investors are human beings. They would care, especially if it meant they might lose their investment in the future if such actions were discovered. The free market absolutely makes businesses MORE accountable than they are with regulations, and gives the ULTIMATE means to keep businesses honest ... dollars and cents. People won't buy products from businesses that are harming people. The business will close and people will buy from those who are more ethical and responsible. Other businesses will WILLINGLY raise the quality of their goods, safety, worker conditions, etc. to avoid the same fate.
This is what ended child labor... not unions. When people speak with dollars, it is far more effective than any law. Businesses are in business to make a profit, and there is no long term profit in dishonesty or in harming people.