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"Self-regulation" like this always fails. The marketplace is unforgiving: a company which does not push externalities onto wider society will be put at a compe
by rectang 7y ago
"Self-regulation" like this always fails. The marketplace is unforgiving: a company which does not push externalities onto wider society will be put at a competitive disadvantage to one which does.
This statement is a bunch of malarkey designed to present the appearance of reform in order to avert the reality of reform.
- civilized 7y agoI think this can explain why individual companies don't go out of their way to behave better when it hurts their bottom line. But why don't companies come together to advocate for better standards overall, so that no one in particular is put at a disadvantage? Seems like a culture issue, not just the iron laws of economics and competition.
- rectang 7y agoVoluntary groups coming together like that creates a prisoner's dilemma, and thus an unstable alliance. Only externally enforced rules, evenly applied, create a level playing field where individual companies can have confidence that they are not harming themselves by adhering to the rules.