Business Ethics

 

Specific Issues in Business Ethics
  1. The Morality of Advertising
  1. Kenneth Galbraith: The Dependence Effect
  1. advertising is manipulative; creates "snob appeal" and obsolescence
  2. consumer's wants are created by the process by which they are satisfied
  3. leads to class divisions by indulging private wants and starving public needs
  1. Arrington, Advertising and Behavior Control
  1. advertising is a justifiable means of manipulation
  2. three kinds of manipulation:
    1. puffery--advertising raises our hopes
    2. repeated, indirect information transfer--tells us what is best for us
    3. subliminal--persuades our "id"
  1. The Morality of Corporations
  1. Charles Wilber and Kenneth Jameson, "The Goal of a Christian Economy and the Future of the Corporation"
  1. threefold purpose of an economy:
    1. overcome scarcity; capitalism reaches this but not socialism
    2. enable freedom of choice; capitalism reaches, maybe socialism
    3. create community; capitalism struggles here; socialism excels
  1. theological guidelines:
    1. stewardship of God's resources
    2. year of Jubilee--distribute wealth
    3. small is better than impersonal, large corporations
  1. corporations should be "mediating institutions"
  1. The Morality of Distribution of Wealth
  1. Two extremes:

    2. 1. egalitarian; 2. Meritocrats

  2. The Free Market and Distribution of Wealth
  1. based on private property and free exchange
  2. an Utilitarian Approach: "diminishing marginal utility of money" leads to more equality and the principle of "incentive factor" leads to more production based upon merit; there must be a balance
    1. fee exchange is legitimate to satisfy desires--the issue is whether people are better off after the exchange
    2. private ownership is needed to keep incentive
  1. a Deontological Approach: basis is wealth obtain rightly; two types of rightful

property claims: a) original (all property rights depends on legitimacy of this) and b) derivative; distribution is legitimate if by original or derivative rights
    1. private ownership is legitimate if by the two above
    2. free exchange is legitimate even if disadvantageous to one, except:

1) forced, 2) result of fraud, 3) violates the rights of others in ownership
  1. Taxation (the way a government distributes wealth)
  1. two questions: a) what is the base to be taxed; b) amount of tax rate
  2. tax bases: a) income, b) sales, c) property
  3. tax rate: a) proportional, b) progressive, c) regressive
  4. for the Utilitarian:
    1. sales tax is best, the others diminish incentive
    2. tax rate--a balance is needed between egalitarian and meritocracy; progressive on consumption; opposes inheritance tax
  1. for the Deontological:
    1. rejects income and consumption because takes away from what belongs to one
    1. property tax is based on original and derivative values
    1. proportional tax is best; rejects progressive and regressive
  1. Government and Redistribution Programs--is it legitimate to force redistribution; why not charity
  1. Utilitarian--must tax for the needy because people don't give enough to charities
  2. Deontological--needy have a right for redistribution because they don't have access to natural resources and original properties