Re: The Corporation (was Re: CG: Ligatures etc)
I sometimes read the Economist, though I tend to differ with their overall
slant. If we're to quote them at each other, see also:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3888006
Where I would differ here would be with what I take to be their notion of
cost-benefit analysis, for instance. The technical details are quite
debatable, and the devil in the details. There is the question of the
validity of the whole approach of CBAs in the first place. Although the
writers do admit that some things in nature are 'literally priceless', the
reductionism involved in CBAs is dubious, and it comes back to the problem
of deriving 'ought's from 'is's. I'm also reminded of the story about the
mathematician (who?) at the (Pr/R)ussian court who scribbled some equations
on a board, and said, "Therefore, God exists!"
The wisest, including Russell, have always recommended guarding against the
excesses of groups -- both governments and corporations. But the question
is: what *are* the excesses, and what are the deficiencies? That is where
folk differ.
Jay
----- Original Message -----
From: "John F. Sowa" <sowa@BESTWEB.NET>
To: "Jay Halcomb" <jhalcomb8@comcast.net>
Cc: "Rich Cooper" <rcooper15@comcast.net>; <cg@CS.UAH.EDU>;
<lupso@inna.net>; <standard-upper-ontology@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG>
Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2005 4:17 PM
Subject: Re: The Corporation (was Re: CG: Ligatures etc)
> Rich and Jay,
>
> I received an offline note, which recommended a review
> that was published in the _Economist_, a well respected
> British news magazine, which is staffed with experts in
> economics on all sides of the political fences:
>
> http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2647328
> Face value | The lunatic you work for | Economist.com
>
> Their final paragraph is very important: both governments
> and corporations can be very good or very bad. That's not
> surprising since they're both human.
>
> Our best hope is to maintain checks and balances so that the
> governments, corporations, journalists, labor unions, churches,
> universities, etc., etc., all keep watch on one another and
> maintain a balance of forces.
>
> What worries me most is that Eisenhower's worst fears are
> coming to pass: the military-industrial complex bought the
> government -- lock, stock, and barrel. If that is allowed
> to continue, all checks and balances are destroyed.
>
> John