August 23, 2011
Athletic shoes used to be made in Massachusetts. Now they’re all made overseas; Nike’s come largely from Indonesia, where its workers* earn $4.00 per day, barely enough to pay rent, transportation, water, and two small bowls of rice and vegetables..
In the courses I teach on business ethics we wrestle with this question: is Nike’s behavior ethical? In Nike’s corner are those who believe what Milton Friedman wrote fifty years ago: that business’s only social responsibility is to increase profits while staying within the rules of the game. Their argument is buttressed by the fact that the workers take the jobs voluntarily, so they must think they’re better off than if they weren’t making Nikes.
On the other side of the argument are those who believe that it’s just not fair for Nike to sell a pair of shoes for $80 that cost roughly $16.25 to produce, including just $2.43 for labor. Were Nike to pay a decent wage to its Indonesian workers, say double the current rate, it would reduce its profit margin by only three per cent, from $63.75 per pair to $61.32.
One man, Jim Keady, has been hard at work for thirteen years selflessly trying to get Nike to treat its Indonesian workers decently. Jim has even lived in Indonesia on $4.00 per day to see if it’s really a “living wage.” It’s not.
Jim came by his passion to change Nike while studying theology at Saint John’s University, where he was fired from his job as assistant soccer coach Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: athletic shoes, Business ethics, Christian charity, corporate social responsibility, ethics, Indonesia, living wage, Milton Friedman, Nike, Saint John’s University, swoosh, theology, Timberland
Posted in Business ethics, Ethics-general, International, Religion | 7 Comments »
August 21, 2011
Government ethics 101:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
These words of Thomas Jefferson are the core principle of government. Perhaps nothing defines being American so much as a belief in these three sentences. So every American must be joyful at the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
The bloodbath that the evil dictator promised hasn’t occurred. His troops defending his capital seem to have melted away as the rebel army drove, almost anti-climactically, into Tripoli.
What comes next no one can say. The people who united to oppose the dictator soon will have nothing so powerful to unite them. Qaddafi claimed—like Mubarak before him—that he Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: al Qaeda, Assad, Ataturk, Castro, consent of the governed, Cromwell, Declaration of Independence, ethics, Idi Amin, Lenin, Libya, Muammar el-Qaddafi, Mubarak, Robespierre, Thomas Jefferson, Tripoli, U.S. military NATO allies, Washington
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, International, military, Politics | 3 Comments »
August 18, 2011
When the Council on American-Islamic Relations recently wrote Congressman Allen West (R-FL), urging him to cut ties with “anti-Islamic extremists, they explained,
“Muslims protect and serve our great country and are afforded equal protection under law. We shouldn’t have to defend our rights to worship freely or participate in the governing of our society.”
Congressman West responded with one word, in what the Miami New Times reporter wrote “might be the dumbest thing ever written on congressional stationery.”
Thanks to the Facebook page, “Americans Against Islamophobia,” for spotlighting this ugliness.
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Tags: Allen West, Americans Against Islamophobia, anti-Islamic extremists, civility, Council on American-Islamic Relations, equal protection, ethics, Miami New Times, Muslims, religious freedom
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, Politics, Religion, Tolerance | 2 Comments »
August 15, 2011
The battle in Congress over America’s budget problem is both practical and ideological. People on the left argue that the budget can never be brought under control without a blend of tax hikes on the rich and spending cuts. On the right tea-party-fueled passions oppose any tax increase on the grounds that the rich are already paying more than their fair share and, moreover, that raising their taxes will stifle job creation.
Into this battle rides Warren Buffett, the world’s third richest person with assets of $50 billion. In an op-ed in today’s New York Times, headlined “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich,” Buffett demolishes both arguments against higher taxes for the super-rich.
First he explains how under-taxed the wealthy are: his tax rate of 17.4 % of taxable income is the lowest of the twenty people in his office, including his secretary. And that’s not uncommon for the super-rich. His summary:
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.
And as far as the argument that higher taxes will slow down investment by the super-rich in new jobs, America’s most successful investor puts it this way:
People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: capital gains, Congressional super-committee, deficit reduction, dividends, ethics, federal budget, income tax, job creation, middle class, New York Times, payroll tax, poor, Stop Coddling the Super-Rich, Sue Willett, super-rich, tax breaks, Tea Party, Warren Buffett
Posted in Business ethics, Ethics-general, Government, Politics | Leave a Comment »
August 13, 2011
Who would have thought that Fox News and MSNBC could raise us out of our funk over the hyper-partisan media and their destructive influence on political discourse in America?
First, Fox: As hosts of the Republican Presidential debate Thursday Fox might have been expected to throw fat pitches to the favored candidates. But reporters Bret Baier, Chris Wallace, and Byron York* would have made the legendary Martha Rountree—creator of Meet the Press and no gentle tosser of fat pitches—proud.
Chris Wallace asked Gingrich about his entire campaign staff resigning, then asked Herman Cain about his claim that “communities have the right to ban Muslims from building mosques.” Byron York asked Bachmann to explain her statement that she was following biblical guidance to “Be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.”
And Baier may have settled the 2012 Presidential contest when he asked the candidates to raise their hands if they would walk away from a deal to balance the budget with a ten-to-one ratio of spending cuts to tax increases. I haven’t seen hands shoot up so fast since I asked in a staff meeting who could use my tickets to Sunday’s Redskins game. Every single candidate claimed absolute dedication to not raise ANY taxes, not even on the super rich, not even on Big Oil, not even on tax-exempt GE. And we know it because of Brett Baier.
And MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow turned away from hyper-partisanship to recognize the courage of four prominent Republicans who defied Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: be submissive, Bret Baier, Byron York, Chris Christie, Chris Wallace, civil discourse, courage, debt ceiling, essential air service, ethics, ethics heroes, FAA shutdown, Fox News, global warming, Jon Huntsman, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Martha Rountree, Meet the Press, Mitt Romney, mosques, partisan media, Rachel Maddow MSNBC, Republican Presidential debate, Sharia, ten-to-one ratio of spending cuts to tax increases
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, Media, Politics | Leave a Comment »
August 6, 2011
I love Amazon.com. I buy all my books (electronic, of course) from them to read on my Amazon Kindle. I buy excellent coffee, all presents for grandchildren, electronic gadgets, and just about anything else. And thanks to Amazon Prime, after a yearly charge I get everything shipped for free.
Their customer service is amazing, too. Easy returns, and if you click on a link on their customer service page you’ll get a phone call from a person in seconds. Their prices are great. They don’t charge California sales tax, but California residents are liable anyway, so I estimate my on-line purchases and send the state a check.
But most people don’t. California estimates that it will lose $83 million this year in unpaid taxes on Amazon purchases, and $200 million from all on-line purchases. And the loss will grow as on-line sales continue their dramatic growth, crowding out traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.
I also love the University of California. Three of our four kids got low-cost, top-quality educations there. But today’s California kids don’t have it as good—the university is Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Amazon, Amazon Prime, ballot initiative, budget cuts, California sales tax, customer service, ethics, internet retailers, Kindle, on-line purchases, on-line sales, University of California, unpaid taxes
Posted in Business ethics, Ethics-general, Government, Retail | 1 Comment »
August 4, 2011
The only people happy about the battle over the debt ceiling are the pundits, because it gives them an audience and an opportunity to display their insights. Oh, and people close to the President, because they know he won.
Months ago, when John Boehner and Mitch McConnell were assuring everybody that whatever happened they wouldn’t allow the nation to default, President Obama stated his position: he wanted a clean extension that would carry the country past the 2012 election. He didn’t ask for a tax increase on zillionaires, or a deficit reduction—these should be tackled aside from the debt ceiling increase, which after all is only needed to allow the United States to pay its obligations, every dollar of which had been authorized by the Congress.
But Boehner and McConnell couldn’t control their members, especially the Tea Party members who wanted to use the debt ceiling as a bludgeon to smash government. The ceiling had been raised without controversy dozens of times before under Presidents and Congresses of both parties. The Republican threat was a repudiation of ethics, duty, and the Constitution. Still, the threat came.
In the end, and just in the nick of time, the President got what he had asked for: a clean bill that simply raised the limit enough to carry the country past the 2012 election.
You could be confused by the words about a super-committee to identify trillions in savings, or about triggers to force cuts. Here are the facts: Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: 2012 election, ” financial crisis, clean extension, debt ceiling, default, deficit reduction, ethics, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Obama, out years, pundits, super-committee, tax increase, Tea Party, triggers
Posted in Ethics-general, Finance, Government, Politics | 3 Comments »
August 4, 2011
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) has been criticized for appointing Sohail Mohammed, an American Muslim, to a New Jersey superior court. Yesterday he defended Mohammed, using words like ignorant, crap, baloney, and crazy to describe Mohammed’s critics. His statement was strong and inspiring for its passion and plain English.
Defending Muslims as patriotic Americans, and ridiculing the notion that Sharia law is a threat to America, is sadly rare in today’s Republican Party. Christie is an up-and-coming Republican politician, and his spirited defense of an American Muslim appointee will cost him many friends on the Republican right. America badly needs leaders who will stand up—like Christie—to the extremists in their parties.
Thanks to Jack Marshall and his Ethics Alarms blog for anointing Christie an ethics hero.
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Tags: American Muslims, Chris Christie, ethics, Ethics Alarms, Ethics Hero, extremists, Jack Marshall, New Jersey superior court, plain English, Republican Party, Sharia law, Sohail Mohammed
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, Religion, Tolerance | 1 Comment »
August 3, 2011
As I read about the massacres in Syria–many hundreds, perhaps thousands of Syrians murdered by tanks, machine guns, helicopters, and artillery fired by their own Army, this picture keeps coming to mind–in March I was framing a photo of the National Museum in Aleppo when these little girls raced into my picture and posed. To me they’re the face of Syria.
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Tags: killings, Syria
Posted in Ethics-general, International, Tolerance | Leave a Comment »
August 2, 2011
Everybody talks about ethics but it seems nobody cares about it. The “ethics” talk is all about rules: bribery, conflict of interest, financial disclosure laws, nepotism, and the rest of the litany of rules of conduct that you can be fired or prosecuted for breaking.
If you subscribe to a Google alert for “ethics” you learned today that a key aide to the governor of Illinois was fined $500 and forced to resign for sending a campaign email on his state-issued cell phone. Or that the former Massachusetts State Auditor was fined $2,000 for by putting his unqualified 75-year-old cousin on the state payroll. Or that lobbyists are buying meals for Oklahoma lawmakers. That’s not about ethics, that’s about rules
Moreover, corporate ethics officers are so concerned with preventing criminal violations that they don’t have much (…any?) time for such things as the Golden Rule, arguing with the boss, or keeping one’s commitments. This became depressingly clear to me after I attended a meeting of ethics officers and academics. The meeting had focused on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for American companies to pay bribes overseas.
After the meeting I made an offer to the attendees that I thought they couldn’t refuse: Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: bribery, campaign email, conflict of interest, corporate ethics officers, ethics, FCPA, financial disclosure laws, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Golden Rule, Google alert, lobbyists, Massachusetts State Auditor, Mick Ukleja, nepotism, Oklahoma lawmakers, Redlands School of Business, rules of conduct, Sarbanes-Oxley
Posted in Business ethics, Ethics-general, Media, Organizational | 9 Comments »
Athletic shoes used to be made in Massachusetts. Now they’re all made overseas; Nike’s come largely from Indonesia, where its workers* earn $4.00 per day, barely enough to pay rent, transportation, water, and two small bowls of rice and vegetables..
Ethics Bob 