Essay
It is clear that we are currently in a period of deregulation. If you recall, regulation is the codified attempt to force businesses to behave in responsible ways. However, regulation is perceived as costly, and a hindrance to business effectiveness. Many argue that deregulation leads to positive economic outcomes by allowing businesses do what they do best - pursue profit activities.
For example, deregulation of the banking industry is projected to increase large bank profits by 30%:
https://www.barrons.com/articles/deregulation-could-lift-big-bank-profits-30-1500705775
Bankers say that removing regulations will not lead to risky behavior by the banks (of the sort which led to the 2008 financial crisis). Watchdogs point to history to disagree. In another example, deregulating the coal industry by opening millions of acres of public land to mining is expected to breathe life in to the industry: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/us/politics/under-trump-coal-mining-gets-new-life-on-uslands.html
Critics of deregulation argue that the environmental impact does not justify the economic gain. Finally, deregulation of the internet is set to boost profits for the major internet service providers. Specifically, regulations related to consumer privacy have been removed (https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-fccprivacy-rules-repeal-explained-2017-4/#how-did-all-of-this-get-started-1) allowing ISP's to profit off of consumer data. In addition, rules related to keeping the internet neutral (net neutrality) on the chopping block, allowing ISP providers to charge content providers (like Netflix, Hulu) to stream content. For consumers, that means that even though you pay your ISP (like Comcast) for internet and separately pay a content provider (like Netflix) for content, Comcast would be able to throttle Netflix content if Netflix doesn't pay Comcast a fee.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/06/10-members-of-congress-rake-fcc-over-the-coals-in-official-netneutrality-comment/
Ironically, the danger of deregulated tech is becoming apparent, from interference is our democratic fabric (https://www.npr.org/2018/04/11/601323233/6-facts-we-know-about-fake-news-in-the-2016-election) to the wholesale commodification of people as consumers (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/08/us/facebook-usersdata-harvested-cambridge-analytica.html). Europe is moving to regulate privacy - will US companies resist doing the same at home? (https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/28/17172548/gdpr-compliance-requirements-privacynotice)
Given these examples, discuss the ethical tension between protection through regulation vs economic growth through deregulation. Should business be free to grow, innovate, and profit, resulting in positive economic outcomes (that may not trickle down to all stakeholders)? Or should regulations protect consumers and the environment at the risk of stymied economic growth? Which side of the divide do you fall on? Argue your position from an ethical standpoint.
Success Factors:
- This essay asks you to explore tension between shareholders and stakeholders.
- Draw upon content to support your framework.
- Include a short discussion from the opposite perspective.
- Answers should be comprehensive, and tie varying concepts together.