One must admire the extent of compassion expressed by the captains of capitalism. Some people unfairly snickered when George Bush declared himself a compassionate conservative, but is a passionate advocate of business his description may have been accurate.
Despite all the talk about greed being the fuel that drives capitalism, profits are virtually irrelevant. As an act of philanthropy, corporations scatter much of their profits in less developed areas, such as the Grand Cayman Islands and Bermuda. As further evidence, I read today that the Bank of America is reluctant to lower the value of its own loans out of compassion for the people who stayed up-to-date with their payments. After all, one of the motives for subprime loans was to meet the desires for people who wanted enjoy homeownership. Similarly, business opposes minimum wages of compassion for workers who might lose their jobs. For the same reason, business reluctantly accepts tax breaks only because it allows them to help unfortunate workers who might find themselves without a boss. The same motives explain why business fights so heroically against regulation. more at http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1915&action=edit&message=6 -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 [email protected] 530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
