The Washington Outsider

Panama Papers: Fairness, Confidence, and Business EthicsĀ 

4/5/2016

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The “Panama Papers,” also known as the “Mossack Fonseca Revelations,” offer the global economy much needed transparency into one of the world’s 80 plus tax havens.  Hiding between 20 and 30 trillion dollars, tax havens like Panama hide sums worth up to nearly half of the annual Gross Global Production.  Although those named in the 11.5 million document leak are not necessarily guilty of criminal behavior, their wealth adds to a significant amount of “black money,” which assuredly helps distort the capitalist mechanisms and functionality of the world’s economies.  Just as important, such secretive practices reinforce a sense of economic injustice and lack of confidence in the economy.
 
Initial reactions to the Panama Papers have less to do with criminal wrongdoing and more to do with ethical wrongdoing.  Coupled with persistent economic inequality, a lack of honesty when it comes to the practices of the wealthy fosters suspicions that economic policies are engineered to favor the already wealthy.  California’s 15 dollars an hour minimum wage, for example, represents frustrations with the failure of capitalism to provide for the needs of poorer Americans, yet perverse disincentives of higher wages, which could result in higher federal taxes for minimum wage earners and fewer hours, highlight the futile struggle of average workers in a world where the rich keep getting richer.
 
These latest revelations compound growing outrage over economic policies that favor unethical and unfair practices like so-called “corporate inversions.”  The US Treasury has announced two rules designed to eliminate the profitability of this tax dogging practice, which supports perceptions that economy has been rigged.  No longer can U.S. subsidiaries of inverted companies take a loan from their foreign parent companies and use interest payments as tax deductions to reduce their US tax liability.  US companies must also own less than 60% of the combined company’s stock, excluding any acquisitions of US companies within three years to derive any tax benefits.  
 
Under the capitalist mindset, the use of shell corporations and business inversions is simply good economic sense for the wealthy, but economics is not the only dimension of such decisions.  Proof of over 215, 000 companies and over 14,000 individual Mossack Fonseca clients ,including 140 political figures, detailing their use of secret offshore accounts hits a nerve among the many who see globalization as an excuse for the wealthy to profit at the expense of domestic industries and average workers.  The practices used by the affluent to hide their wealth may or may not be “illegal,” but that does not make them right.  This is where business ethics comes into play.
 
Although the need for ethics may appear to be a moral issue wrapped in subjective reasoning, ethics are actually a major concern for any businesses viewed as an enduring entity designed to last.  Ethics provide direction to businesses of all sizes by defining limits and standards on how they treat other businesses, employees, and consumers.  Ethics are long-term considerations that impact the short and long-term success of a company, its industry, and the community it operates within.  Consequently, ethics represent an attempt to address factors, which cannot be fully measured or understood, to ensure success now and in the future.
 
One of the main reasons to implement business ethics is to protect businesses from the actions of their employees. When employees interact with clients, other employees, or new employers, a business must guard against any perceivable damage an employee could cause.  By scripting responses to consumers and the Public, limiting workplace relationships, or instituting nondisclosure agreements, employers are attempting to control long-term costs as well as sculpt the business culture within the firm and beyond.  Ethics policies may require employees to follow certain procedures, such as the previously mentioned examples, but ethical considerations go beyond employee behavior and perceived costs.
 
A firm lacking ethics can only build an “ethics” policy through a superficial attempt to ensure legal penalties exist for employees who violate company policy, but ethics go beyond punitive action. A company, which treats its employees poorly, rips off consumers, ignores regulation, dodges taxes, and/or undercuts other firms with unhealthy competition, is going to teach employees to behave unethically. This means business ethics extend beyond employee relations to include how a firm treats its competitors across its entire industry as well as the quality and cost of products and services the firm provides its consumers; this includes hidden or displaced costs.
 
Furthermore, it is the executive managers who set the tone and direction of a company's operations. As business leaders, they are also the ones to shape the ethical culture of their firms while business leaders across an entire industry maintain standards for ethical conduct. It is important to recognize that businesses do not simply act on company interests; they act on the interests of their management teams. This makes it essential for observers of industry to recognize a firm will not solely act on its perceived interests, but rather, its interests and the interests of its leaders as perceived by the business leaders. 
 
As a consequence, leaders of business define what ethics and other values mean for their industries, companies, and subordinates.  Under the guise of unfettered competition, business leaders can easily define ethics in terms that ensure they benefit the most. This creates a serious ethics deficient when leaders fail to consider all the ethical implications of their decisions and behavior.  Regarding professional ethics as an attempt to address all unrealized and long-term costs to a firm and industry resulting from the inappropriate behavior of all employees is, therefore, necessary.
 
Unfortunately, business leaders will often view ethics between professionals at their level as a pledge not to undermine the profitability of the company, yet fail to recognize how unhealthy internal competition hurts long-term viability.  For subordinates, business leaders may look at how the behavior of these employees can harm a company then address these issues with punitive "ethics" policies versus instilling an ethics culture for these professionals to learn.  In reality, both groups need to have their behavior mitigated by a strong sense of professional ethics.
  
As such, every employee is responsible for instilling a strong culture of ethics in their workplace. While the business leadership must guarantee the proper atmosphere exists and lead by example, especially in the face of temptation, the only way of ensuring values are properly ingrained in a firm's culture is by creating an environment that addresses ethical violations when they arise. This starts by understanding why ethics are necessary, identifying ethical considerations, building an ethical culture, and correcting ethical violations when they occur, whether at the lowest tier of employment or the highest level of management.
  
As a society, the damaging effects of unethical corporate actions last for generations and undermine healthy competition for all businesses in a given industry. Nation-states require strong industries to provide for the interests of their citizens and other vital national interests beyond commerce. The problem is that unethical practices do not simply destroy the firms engaging in them; these firms eliminate unethical competitors and undermine ethical practices across entire industries.  Moreover, ethics are needed to protect everyone from the harmful practices of wealthy businesses and individuals
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      • Should One's Faith Influence a Citizen's Vote?
      • Should the U.S. Government Help Fund Election Campaigns?
      • On Defunding Political Science Research
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      • Justice for All: The Case for Legal, Social, Economic, and Personal Justice
      • Why Hardliner Thinking in the NSA and CIA is Doing Damage
      • On the Baby Boomer’s Self-Centeredness
      • The Case for Personal Responsibility
      • What Modern Day Revolutionaries Need to Learn from Leader's like Mandela
      • Rising Western Acceptance of LGBT Primes Culture Clash
      • The Need for Wisdom Beyond the Numbers
      • Perceptions of the United States
      • How Honesty Relates to the Great Recession
      • Why the Middle Class and Rich Need to Support Their Long-term Interests
      • The Aristocratic Republic of the United States of America
      • Discussing the Need for Community Support
      • Why New Forms of Capitalism and Socialism Will Compliment Each Other
      • The Reason We Need to Understand What it is to Be Poor in America
      • Why the World Needs to Reinvest in America
      • Why Are We Against Terrorism?
      • Why Does Terrorism Exist?
      • US Influence: The Value of American Citizenship Around the World
      • Responding to "the Soldier as Sacrficial Victim"
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      • How comfort defines us as people >
        • Is Suicide a Cowardly Way Out?
      • Defense Against the Dark Arts of Manipulators
      • Defining Abuse >
        • On the Willing Victim of Abuse
        • How to Understand Abuse Victims
        • Recognizing Abuse
      • The Role of Substitution in Decision Making
      • Trying to Understand PTSD and Other Trauma-induced Mental Health Issues
      • Exploring Human Emotion >
        • Mental Illness is Not the Cause of Anger and Violence >
          • Trying to Understand the Boston Marathon Bombing and Other Violent Crimes
          • Getting into the Twisted Mind of the Tucson Murder
      • Describing the Mind as Modes of Thought >
        • It’s Just Sex?
      • Relationships, or Arrangement
      • Understanding the Effects of Groupthink in the Workplace
      • Relating Circular, Inductive, and Deductive Reasoning to the Scientific Method and Religion
      • What is a Redneck? Understanding Different Cultures and Thinking
    • Economics >
      • The Need for Greater Economic Leverage >
        • Evaluating NAFTA and TPP
        • Undercutting Logistics with the Underpaid Independent Contractor
        • Unions: Hindrance or Essential to Free Markets
        • Eminent Domain Used Against Banks
        • Haitians Sue the UN for Failure to Help With Cholera
        • Looking at How Corn-based Ethanol and Other Alternative Energy Subsidies Stack Up
      • Empowering the Sovereign Nation-State by Rethinking Trade Policy >
        • Irish Sovereignty Lost Before Bailout
        • Why Sudan's Greatest Long-Term Hurdle is Our Lowest-bidder Economy
        • Reduce US Imports by Buying American Made Products
      • Ending the need for government support and tackling poverty
      • Income inequality: understanding the limitations and psychology of disadvantage
      • Looking at the Future of American Jobs >
        • On Questioning the Need to Address Economic Disparity
        • Minimum Wage is Not the Problem
        • Responding to the "Blip"
        • Why Education Is Not The Civil Rights Issue Of The Twenty-First Century
      • Considering the Impact of the Capital Gains Tax Deduction
      • Embracing a Capitalist Mindset >
        • Capitalism Versus Socialism
        • The Negatives of Socialism
      • Stealing Intellectual Property
      • Changing Business Models: From Enduring Entities to Cash Cows
      • Consumer and Investor Evolution in the Great Recession of 2008-09
      • Dealing with the Issues Surrounding the Patenting of Self-replicating Technologies
      • Is Technology Threatening Jobs?
    • Education >
      • The Role of Education in Creating a More Dynamic Workforce
      • Primary Education in America and the Changing Needs of Society
      • The Greatness of the American Education System
      • Ideas for Improving the United States Education System
      • Are Teachers Treated as Professionals?
      • Is Engaging Parents in Their Children's Education a Major Factor in Turning Around Low-performing Schools?
      • Should Grants Be Awarded to School Districts that Try Innovative Methods to Improve Student Achievement?
    • US Constitution >
      • On Reading the US Constitution
      • The Senate should not do more to limit the powers of the Judicial Branch
      • On the DOJ Justifying the “targeted Killings” of US Citizens
      • Corporations Do Not Have the Same Rights as US Citizens >
        • Corporate America Pleads the First
      • Discussing the Constitutionality of Per Capita Taxes
      • Was the California Supreme Court Right in Legalizing Gay Marriage?
      • Should the Bible Continue to Be Used for Swearing-in Ceremonies and in Courtrooms?
      • Should Religious Student Clubs Be Allowed in Public Schools?
      • Should the Government Control Talk Radio to Make it More "balanced"?
      • The Second Amendment: Not Outdated >
        • Are We Losing Our Second Amendment Rights
      • Eminent Domain Used Against Banks
      • Should a Woman Have the Right to Choose Abortion? >
        • Should Fathers Be Able to Opt Out of Parenthood?
      • Should Smoking Be Allowed in Public Places?
      • Is Teen Driving a Right or a Privilege?
      • Should US Companies Be Required to Provide Equal Pay to Women and Men?
      • Is eighteen too young to vote?
      • First Amendment Rights: The Priviledge of The Press
      • Do Mandatory Seat Belt Laws Violate Individual Rights?
      • Should cell phone use be banned while driving?
      • Dealing with the link between video game violence and children's behavior
      • Should police have to submit to routine drug and alcohol testing?
      • Public schools should not impose mandatory drug testing on students
      • Are High Taxes on Cigarettes Proper?
      • Should pharmacists be required to violate their religious beliefs and dispense the "Morning After Pill?"
      • Should school counselors uphold patient privacy or report students who become unstable?
  • For the record
    • Ongoing Issues >
      • Red Dawn in Ukraine: Understanding the Actions of Russia >
        • On Russia’s Coercion of Ukraine
        • The Russian Annexation of Crimea in the Eyes of the World
        • Putin Has Overplayed His Hand With Crimea
        • Ukraine in Terms of Resovereignization
        • Avoiding a Conflict Between America and Russia Over Ukraine
        • What Drives the World’s Interest in Russia’s Actions in Ukraine
      • China’s Aggressive Pursuit of Interests Demands a Global Response
      • Iran Makes a Deal: A Start to a Long-term Diplomatic Effort to Denuclearize Iran >
        • On the Future of a Nuclear Negotiations with Iran
      • America's Sphere of Influence: Retaking South-East Asia >
        • Power in Asia: Looking at the Power Shift in Japan
        • The China Paradox: Why America is Worried About China
      • Assessing US Support of Israel >
        • Tread Softly Israel for a Heavy Step May Be Your Undoing
      • Understanding the Dysfunctional Nature of the US-Pakistani Relationship
      • Recognizing the True Threat Behind the Current Unrest in the Middle East >
        • Reacting to the Escalating Crackdown in Syria
      • Assessing the Threat of North Korea >
        • Answering North Korea's Call for Food Aid: Breaking the Vicious Cycle Forced Upon Us by a Warring Nation
        • Dealing with the Restarting of the Korean War
        • North Korea Attacks South Korea
      • Dealing with the Ill-effects of Climate Change
      • Racial Inequality and Oppression Do Truly Exist in Today's Society
      • Should energy independence be a high priority in the US?
      • An overview of world wide Human Rights violations
      • Nuclear Threat from Pakistan
      • Return of The Cold War?
    • World >
      • Coverage of FIFA World Cup is a Chance to Focus on Poverty >
        • The FIFA World Cup Offers Benefits for More Than Brazilian Soccer Fans
        • FIFA Can Bring Brazilians Together as a Nation
      • Being Prepared for Any Potential Dangers at the FIFA World Cup Games
      • Treading Softly on the Politicizing of the 2014 Sochi Olympics Over Gay Rights
      • Why NATO Operations in Libya Lack a Well-defined Mission
      • China Hijacks the Web
      • Lessons from the Great Japanese Earthquake of 2011
      • A Modernizing Cuba Offers an Opportunity for Capitalists
      • The Seeds of Democracy Take Root in the Middle East
      • The Rebirth of Democracy in Tunisia
      • What May Come from the Hurt Revolution in Libya
      • Responding to the Violence of Qaddafi and Other Besieged Leaders
      • Embracing the Rise of a Democratic Egypt
      • Protests in Afghanistan Turn Deadly for Coalition Forces and UN Personnel
      • Haiti: Another Failing Humanitarian Investment
      • What Karzai Can Learn from Calderon
      • START II: A Necessary, Easy Success that Nearly Failed
      • Why Does the U.S. Government Support Independence for the Breakaway Serb Territory of Kosovo but Oppose Independence for the Breakaway Georgian Territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
      • Iraq's Electric Issues: When Human Wants Trump Economic Sense
      • The International Community Reacts to Wikileaks: We May Be Moving Toward a Third World War in Cyberspace
      • On Climate Gate
      • Assessing Obama's Afghanistan War strategy
      • 2009 Iranian Presidential Election: The Fallout
      • Resolving Sri Lankan Conflict through Free Media
      • What are the Global Consequences of Russia's Invasion of Georgia
      • The War in Iraq: an assessment of President Bush's surge strategy
      • Drug War: Actions of Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador in terms of Resovereignization
      • Is the Iraq Refugee Crisis America's Responsibility?
      • US support for a united Kosovo, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia: why?
      • Should the US withdraw from Iraq?
      • Setting a Timetable for Troop Withdrawal from Iraq is a Terrible Mistake
      • War on Terrorism is needed
    • Law and Order >
      • Rape in the US Military
      • Ethics of Force-feeding Guantanamo Bay Detainees
      • Reacting to the Aftermath of the Tucson Massacre
    • Economy >
      • Affordability Drives Fear of Obamacare and the Individual Mandate
      • Is the Economy Built for a Job's Recovery?
      • Gutting Healthcare Reform of the Individual Mandate
      • Arizona Budget Cuts Lead to Lethal Healthcare Rationing:
      • Shameful Collection Practices of American Banks
      • The Fed Reveals it Actually Undertook an International Bailout
      • Thoughts on French Budgetary Reforms
      • Seniors Start Businesses
      • The Case for Slimming Down the US Military to Make it Better
      • Looking at the Obama Administration's New Approach to Economic Policy
      • Should the Government Regulate the Credit Card Industry?
      • The Big Three's Big Chance
      • The Unhealthy Tone of the Healthcare Reform Debate
      • Should the federal government offer a bailout for home owners?
      • Environmentalists: Do They Do More Good Than More Harm?
      • Responding to Scott Walker's Contribution to the War on Unions
    • US Government >
      • America Needs to Focus on the Impending Fiscal Crisis
      • Reacting to the Bush Era-tax Cut Extension Deal
      • Quitting the Obama Revolution: The Fickle Nature of American Politics
      • John Boehner's Circus
      • Is the Fed Putting Itself in Jeopardy?
      • Wikileaks Goes After the US State Department
      • Discussing the Political Environment Surrounding the 2011 Budget Debate
      • What the Democrats Can Do to Ensure a GOP Year in 2012
      • What the 2010 Midterm Actually Said
      • Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper
      • Democrats Minus Nancy Pelosi Equals Opportunity
      • Terrorists Go Postal: The Terrorism Threat Reexamined
      • Victory in the 2008 Election: Reaction to Barack Obama'a Win >
        • Expectations for Barack Obama
      • President Obama's first one hundred days
      • John McCain's Negative Campaign
      • Reasons People did not Elect John Mccain
      • History judges the George W. Bush Administration
      • Should the next US President focus on domestic issues?
      • President Bush, should he resign or be impeached
      • Should the Ban on Government Sponsored Assassinations be Repealed
    • Off Topic >
      • A Face of America’s Greatest Generation
      • A Story About a Man Who Made the World a Better Place
      • Making the World a Better Place
      • The Bipolar Ethical Nature of Google
      • Learning Computer Plays Jeopardy
      • Verifying Medicine is the Real Thing
      • Taking a Practical Step Forward in Optical Computing Using Slow Light
      • Scientists Take a Closer Look at How Lithium Batteries Work
      • Remarking on the First Blizzard of the 2010-2011 Winter Season
      • Driving in the Snow: Acceleration is the Key
      • How People in Northwest PA Are Coping with the Increasing Cost of Oil
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