4 ms·
> And of course it is to extract more money from consumers, that's the goal of every company. No it isn't. We don't have companies so that they can extract mon
by squiggleblaz 5y ago
> And of course it is to extract more money from consumers, that's the goal of every company.
No it isn't. We don't have companies so that they can extract money from consumers. We have companies to help efficiently distribute wealth through the community to maximise the probability of social needs being filled.
If the goal was to extract money from consumers and give it to those with spare capital, there are vastly more efficient ways to do that. Why would they even bother producing valuable goods?
- nico_h 5y agoIt's the only legal way. Have you had a look at the healthcare industry in the US vs healthcare in the rest of the world?
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago"Why would they even bother producing valuable goods?" Like opium by the East India company or drugs by mexican cartels? Getting people to buy something is a lot easier than chasing them with a gun, just look at how bad we are at colecting taxes. "We have companies to help efficiently distribute wealth" There is no economic theory, from marxist to neoliberal, that claims conpanies are there to distribute wealth. They organise capital and labour, and maybe they fullfill needs, unless they are doing HFT or something similarly murky.
- skeeter2020 5y agoI guess they "distribute wealth" in the sense that they first extract it, then concentrate it and finally distribute it to a very limited audience. It's not usually the primary or emphasized act though...
- squiggleblaz 5y agoPerhaps I should have said "organise capital" instead of "distribute wealth". I mean they cause it to be available to certain people.
- aqme28 5y agoNot to be curt, but this is one of the most naive things I've read on this website. 90% of the time, people start companies to make money, not to "efficiently distribute wealth through the community."
- kwhitefoot 5y agoHe or she said: > We have companies to help efficiently distribute wealth through the community to maximise the probability of social needs being filled. We here presumably means society in general. We set rules and give privileges to people to run companies in order to better society. In a capitalist system this is done through the medium of 'enlightened self interest' so yes, one starts a company to make money but that is not the reason we have companies. You are arguing against a point he didn't make.
- awillen 5y ago"so yes, one starts a company to make money but that is not the reason we have companies." I don't understand this at all. The reason people create companies is the reason that companies exist. They're by definition the same thing - companies don't exist without people creating them. So if people start companies to make money, the reason companies exist is to make the people who start them money.
- nojokes 5y agoYou can't just create a company - you need a legal framework for a company to exists.
- dragonwriter 5y ago> You can't just create a company - you need a legal framework for a company to exists. Not really, because “company” is a generic term for any organization of people with a common business purpose independent of whether it has a distinct recognized legal recognition, existence, or treatment separate from the constituent individuals. A corporation, LLC, or other legally recognized business entity requires a legal framework.