Are businesses enemies of public welfare?

Business & Economy Forum

Started from http://www.inreview.com/showthread....9445#post489445

The cigarette thing was an example of how business can operate, profit above public welfare. 40, 50 years ago, however long ago it was is irrelevant, the tobacco companies are now being sued in multi-million dollar law-suits for lying about the dangers of smoking. They lied because to tell the truth would have hit profits.
If someone who sues McDonalds for spilling hot coffee on themselves is "greedy" what does that make the guys running the tobacco industry who were selling a product they knew was an adictive drug that caused cancer and heart desease and killed those using it.

Well, I don't know how Philip Morris advertised their products 50 years ago, but doctors surely warned the general public about the danger of the tobacco. A person had enough information and made his choice.
A business is selfish and works solely for net profit. It's true. But a government should manage a country's policy in the way, that those selfish businesses finally benefit the public interests. It's to be done with taxation or with legal constraints.
Because people wouldn't have a reason to work once they have no personal interest in the fruits of their labour. A person does his personal affaires most carefully, the most productive society is where everyone is a businessman.

It's getting increasingly less likely that government will want to control business in the public interest. Business funds political parties. Business funds elections. And business will always want government policy that increases profit, very often at the expense to the public interest. Bush has stated he is more interested in looking after business interests than the enviroment.

You gave me a good food for thought. I don’t know how arrange things in the way that the rich can’t make government working for their agenda solely, thus harming society as whole.
Interesting, that such policies of the busuness’s owner will lead to an over-production crisis like that in the USA.
Maybe political campaigns should be organised by governments and all prospective candidates will pass same procedures to inform the public about their programmes? And privately funded campaigns to be illegal?
As for the environment, I think this should be an activity financed by tax money like law-enforcing or defense. It has alike nature: everybody uses environment and it’s very difficult to split the use into individual pieces to be billed.

People rarely work for nothing but I doubt if people like for example nurses, teachers, the police, etc would be more productive if they were businessmen. People can and do do things for things other than the bottom line.
There’are, of course, certain jobs that should be in public sector only. As dor these professions, I’d agree about the police, I’d include military people to them, but I’d disagree about nurses and teachers. There’re many good private schools in your country, say, Eton, Harrow, and a number of cheaper ones. They seem to give good education.