Business Ethics

Blamestorming and Environmental Problems (Part I) [Good Life series]

Some parts of the world really are environmental Hells. They are dirty and depleted, making them unhealthy and economically unsustainable. We can argue about the severity of various places’ problems, but I want to focus on another aspect of the debate: determining accurately the causes of the degradation so we can focus productively on finding […]

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Corruption—Is It Worse in Free or Government-Regulated Markets? [Good Life series]

Bad things happen in free markets. Some people lie, cut corners, commit fraud, and write bad checks. Others renege on contracts, offer or accept bribes, give kickbacks, embezzle, and more. Often this translates into an argument for government regulation. Free markets maximize liberty, the argument runs, so they give much more scope to immoral individuals,

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Engineering Ethics talk in Chile — report

Here’s a report (in Spanish) on my lecture at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Santiago, Chile, to a group of engineering students and faculty. Thank you to Professor Ruth Murrugarra for inviting me. I also did a short follow-up interview (in English) with Andrea Millar Bruna, posted here: AMB: Which are the essential skills for success

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Lecture tour in Chile, August 2016

Over the next two weeks, I’m giving five talks in Santiago and one in Puerto Montt, Chile August 16, Faculty of Economics, University of Chile. “Ethics for Entrepreneurial Business Leaders.” (Drawing on my article “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship.”) August 17: Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez: “Why Entrepreneurial Engineers Have Been This Generation’s Unacknowledged Ethical Leaders.” August 17:

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How to Discriminate Properly [Good Life series]

Irrational and unjust discrimination in the workplace deserves exposure and condemnation. But what about rational discrimination? Consider the following cases. * You are the chair of the hiring committee for a new president of a historically-black college. So you discriminate in favor of black candidates and against non-black candidates. * You are the owner of

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