This blog is a random collection of information, partly in support of my quotations web site. Other topics include wine, military news, economics, history, libertarianism, and other random things which happen to strike my fancy. Backup site is at http://quotulatiousness.blogspot.com/ (if there are no posts showing, hit the backup blog for explanation). Comments have been turned off, as the spam was getting too much to handle. Comments can be emailed to me for posting.

December 07, 2006

Sue the bastards!

It's a common cry, when a corporation is widely seen as acting "above the law" or "exploiting the poor" or is merely seen as "too big". John Bambenek discusses the economic problem with jury awards for massive damages against corporations:

The idea that suing a company for some injustice (many imaginary and some, sadly, very real) to make them pay is false. It's a creation of trial lawyers who like collecting 40% of those big multimillion dollar settlements. The dirty little secret is that society pays an increased amount for products to sustain that system. No matter what you think about a hack artist doctor or a negligent fast-food restaurant owner, they never pay for these lawsuits, society does.

You get as much as you put up with as a consumer. If you want businesses to behave morally, consumers need to put that into their economics decisions. Until they do, businesses will continue to minimize costs and maximize profits.

Posted by Nicholas at December 7, 2006 09:50 AM
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