>> Every apple that gets pulled from the bushel is rotten and there are a lot of apples left.
This is part of a larger degradation of rules-based order. Companies do not fear regulators and certainly have no moral or ethical qualms about violating established rules. Ignoring rules is now an expected part of business. It is rewarded. We champion "disrupter" leaders who openly defy authorities and tear apart established norms of behavior. That needs to change. Shareholders need to stop rewarding such activity.
> Shareholders need to stop rewarding such activity.
And how, exactly, do you expect that to work? Shareholders are going to pay attention to what's profitable, and basically nothing else.
No; the government needs to stop turning a blind eye to such activity. We need the relevant enforcement departments to be better funded, the policies to be in favor of cracking down on violations of all types, and a mandate from the highest levels not to be shy about seeking the heaviest penalties even from the biggest, most lobbyist-endowed offenders.
There was never a rules-based order on the whole. Something like that has existed for various brief moments in time in various industries throughout the 20th century, but it has never been the norm. We as human society are fighting the same fight that we have been fighting since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Progress is measured on the scale of decades at best.
I agree with what you think needs to change, but I don't think anyone should be confused about corporations in the past somehow being more ethical than they are today.
This is part of a larger degradation of rules-based order. Companies do not fear regulators and certainly have no moral or ethical qualms about violating established rules. Ignoring rules is now an expected part of business. It is rewarded. We champion "disrupter" leaders who openly defy authorities and tear apart established norms of behavior. That needs to change. Shareholders need to stop rewarding such activity.