| > "If a businessman makes a mistake, he suffers the consequences. If a bureaucrat makes a mistake, you suffer the consequences." Makes for a catchy soundbite, what a shame it's not true. A businessman can make a mistake that impacts millions of people. Here are a couple of prominent examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_haemophilia_blood... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé_boycott#Baby_milk_issue To summarise the first, Bayer had to stop selling some blood transfusion products in the US after they were found to be contaminated with HIV and Hepatitis C. What did they do with the blood? They sold it in Asia and South America instead. A cold-blooded capitalist may argue this was a 'win' for the company in terms of income, but regardless a business decision was made and there was huge damage as a result. To summarise the second, Nestlé tried to encourage groups of mothers in developing countries to give up breast feeding their babies and sell them infant formula instead. They do so at first by giving out free samples. Numerous problems ensued (including the mothers' no longer being able to produce breast milk for their babies, leading to deaths once the free samples stopped and the mothers were no longer able to afford the infant formula). There are plenty of other examples (especially in the areas of environmental pollution and worker conditions), I'm guessing I don't need to go on. |