It’s only coincidental that companies work in the interest of consumers. Profit is the only real incentive. Often times, the profit and consumer benefit are ali

It’s only coincidental that companies work in the interest of consumers. Profit is the only real incentive. Often times, the profit and consumer benefit are aligned, but it’s because of feedback systems like public reputation, product usefulness, pricing, and government regulation that those two things are coupled at all. There’s no inherent reason why any business must work in the interests of consumers. Without social or government regulation, the dynamic reduces to an oscillatory predator/prey system, where maximal profit is extracted at any cost until the consumer base is damaged. The damaged consumer base reduces profits and causes the company to extract less, allowing the consumer base to recover… repeat.