Shaming Act

From dKosopedia

Category: Proposed Legislation

Proposed by: dKosopedia contributor.

When a corporation is convicted of a particularily outrageous crime, it should have to have a logo on its packaging and advertsising indicating this. It might be a single one, or more specific, for example one for polluting, etc. It could also be applied to legal but unethical behaviors (Ie breaking laws that the WTO overrules).

I just read in Freakonomics how shame is a more powerful incentive than money - though of course, lots of money would be lost by a criminal corporation as consumers switch to rivals or alternatives.

Framing:

• This is a simple protection against fraud. Corporations all portray themselves as good citizens, but if they are not, citizens deserve the truth.

• This is the completion of the creation of a free market system. Just like we have intellectual property without which the market could not result in innovation, laws against fraud without which markets could not result in quality, and better pricing. Free market capitalism doesn't just appear in a puff of smoke, it is built out of laws that result in its powers being used for innovation, quality, and lower prices, and its powers should be used for ethics as well.