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When the news of VW emissions fraud first broke, I thought, "corporate death penalty!" That'll teach 'em. Not playing by the rules on an industrial scale has th
by getpost 10y ago
When the news of VW emissions fraud first broke, I thought, "corporate death penalty!" That'll teach 'em. Not playing by the rules on an industrial scale has the consequence that you don't get to participate in our economy at all.
Of course, the corporate death penalty would only amplify and accelerate the hardship of hundreds of thousands of "innocent" employees and others in the VW ecosystem.
Punishment doesn't work. We already know VW management doesn't feel responsible; they blame it on 'low-level' people. Does anybody seriously think VW or GM won't do this kind of thing again?
As a society, we can't allow crimes of this magnitude to occur in the first place. What do we need to change so things like this don't happen?
- jeffdavis 10y agoTransparency. Transparent accounting makes sure financial problems are caught before they snowball. Transparent engineering -- including code -- will prevent this kind of engineering fraud. (That doesn't necessarily mean Free Software, but certainly auditable by the public and regulators.)
- YokoZar 10y agoYou can keep a company and most of its staff running while still wiping out shareholders and current high-level management. That's basically how the GM bailout worked.