On 21/11/2020 21:21, T i m wrote:
On Sat, 21 Nov 2020 20:18:22 +0000, williamwright
wrote:

It is determined by the 'what the
market will stand' principle.

Often (especially these days) but not always.

Always when there are shareholders.

Only the mercenary ones that seem feature in your world.

Now now! That's a bit harsh! I can only speak as I find. There is some
genuine philanthropy in business I grant you, but there is far more
virtue signaling, publicity gaining, tax avoidance, and green-washing.


No-one is going to stand up in a
board meeting and advocate a policy that reduces profits.

It depends why the profits might become reduced. There are many modern
/ progressive companies who have shareholders specifically because of
their green or human rights considerations.

See above. Public relations.

That's not that I couldn't have made use of the extra cash of course,
but as long as I could live reasonably comfortably that was all I
*needed*.

Ah now, leaving aside my point below, some people have the attitude that
you display, whist others think, "There might be a rainy day ahead. I
need to maximise my income and save."

Yup, and there is nothing wrong with that ... and it can be done
whilst not fleecing anyone.

Of course it can. That's what I did. And I paid my taxes. And I did
freebies for hospices and dogs' homes.


For some people, *and businesses* money isn't the most important
thing. Of course it *is* important, in that they need to cover their
costs, pay wages and invest in their future, it'd just many have good
ethics as well.

Can't beat my ethics Tim. I think you're falling into the trap of
thinking that only people with your mindset can be ethical.

Bill