[Andrew_Quentin]

The BP oil spill is a clear example of dangers to others, as is the credit crash. There are numerous other examples, one given in the article itself, where the actions of business can do great damage to individuals. Is my toothpaste safe? What about my tomatoes?

[chc]

This seems like a bizarre leap from what mhartl was talking about when he said "A business should do what the owners want it to do", which is what tomjen3 was defending. Given the choice between a reasonable interpretation of someone's comment and an unreasonable one, it seems unkind to choose the unreasonable one without even asking for clarification.

When you hear someone say something like "People should be free to choose their own destiny," do you come in guns-a-blazin' about how they shouldn't be free to choose a destiny where they kill people or beat children? Because that's usually not what people mean when they say that. I think mhartl and tomjen3 were just suggesting that this same principle applies even when the person is a business owner — that people don't suddenly have any one particular goal forced on them just because they happen to be running a business.

[davidw]

In economics this is called an "externality", specifically a negative one in this case.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality

[ams6110]

The credit crash was due as much to people taking on obligations they ought not to have taken on, as it was about lenders making loans they ought not to have made.