[nickff]

In many countries, child labor wasn't banned because of moral reasons, it was banned as an anti-competitive measure against un-mechanized factories.

Slavery was enforced (and subsidized) by many governments; it wasn't exactly a creature of the free market. Segregation was similar. Indentured servitude may be a different matter, though it brings up some more complicated questions.

"Not demanding payment up front" has nothing to do with morality; I've gone to many nice restaurants where they didn't charge me up front, and they weren't doing it because they were saints. The history of fire-fighting is also interesting, as it was private for quite some time in many places; insurance companies don't like buildings burning down.

You say that companies should expect profits to fall, but do you expect the companies to drive themselves into the ground (thus leaving their employees unemployed) in an attempt to do a little to help? Most companies spend about 50% of their revenue on labor, and have a profit of less than five percent. That means that a 10% increase in labor costs (think overtime) means they make no money, so they really can't afford to reduce their margins much, and remain an extant firm.

You say we shouldn't gamble our lives on the continued decency of for-profit corporations, but I have more confidence in their ethics than those of the common man. As we saw with toilet paper (and hand sanitizer), the average person will hoard anything they are afraid will not be available tomorrow. Companies have shown more restraint in this crisis and others.

[yqx]

> Slavery was enforced (and subsidized) by many governments; it wasn't exactly a creature of the free market.

Chicken or egg. You can make this argument either way. The fact is that slavery has been around for a lot longer than the governments that "enforced" it and it eventually took governments to abolish it completely.

> As we saw with toilet paper (and hand sanitizer), the average person will hoard anything they are afraid will not be available tomorrow. Companies have shown more restraint in this crisis and others.

Luckily in a well functioning democracy it would not be the toilet paper hoarders that'd be charged with coming up with ethical legislation.

It's not either or. Legislation doesn't solve everything, but neither does a completely free market (which doesn't and couldn't exist anyway).

[yawaramin]

> In many countries, child labor wasn't banned because of moral reasons, it was banned as an anti-competitive measure against un-mechanized factories.

OK, then child soldiers. Or chemical weapons. Pretty much anything outlawed by the Geneva Convention–all economical ways to wage wars, trumped by morality. Not as anti-competitive measures against killer robots.

> I've gone to many nice restaurants where they didn't charge me up front,

Restaurants also typically don't risk their lives for you, so not really relevant.

> You say that companies should expect profits to fall,

That's what I said.

> but do you expect the companies to drive themselves into the ground (thus leaving their employees unemployed) in an attempt to do a little to help?

That's not what I said. It helps if you stick to what I actually said.

> Most companies spend about 50% of their revenue on labor, and have a profit of less than five percent.

We're not talking about most companies. We're talking about big industrial PPE manufacturers like 3M, which reported net income of about $5b dollars in 2018, and because of accounting tricks,[1] probably under-reported their income. They have a profit margin of about 50% for at least the past five years.[2]

> That means that a 10% increase in labor costs (think overtime)

We're not talking about a uniform, across-the-board 10% increase in labour costs, we're talking about targeted cost increases specifically for PPE manufacture.

> they really can't afford to reduce their margins much, and remain an extant firm.

Based on the actually relevant numbers, it looks like they'll be just fine.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/02/26/hi...

> You say we shouldn't gamble our lives on the continued decency of for-profit corporations, but I have more confidence in their ethics than those of the common man.

I'm just curious, who do you think makes up these for-profit corporations, some kind of special saints? As opposed to 'common' people?

[2] https://ycharts.com/companies/MMM/gross_profit_margin