"'The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profits and Socializes Costs', by Christopher Marquis
"Most economics students will be familiar with the concept of externalities: "the negative side effects of a company's operations and practices, that are not factored into their profit and loss statements", in the telling of Judge Business School professor Christopher Marquis. In this engaging read, he brings to life the real-world manifestations of this rather dry term, showing how the public and environment pay the hidden costs of business while irresponsible corporations reap the rewards.
Examples range from industrial carbon emissions that cause climate change, flooding and failed harvests; to discriminatory practices that hold back the marginalised; to vast imbalances in income and returns that entrench inequality. Marquis reserves special ire for greenwashing companies that pretend responsibility while wreaking havoc on the planet and doing little to clean it up.
At root, he argues, is a shareholder capitalism in which corporations "only engage in activities that increase profits" and limit responsibility for any damage that causes. Yet despite his systemic diagnosis, the book is not despairing. It details many encouraging examples of change, and does not limit itself to radical projects. Marquis argues large investment portfolios, for example, are well positioned to take externalities into account because some companies in them will inevitably be hit by risks created by others' gains."
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