How does a free and competitive market help in attaining utilitarian goals?
What will be an ideal response?
Utilitarianism answers the fundamental questions of ethics-what should we do?-by reference to a rule: maximize the overall good. One movement within utilitarian thinking invokes the tradition of Adam Smith, claiming that free and competitive markets are the best means for attaining utilitarian goals. This version would promote policies that deregulate private industry, protect property rights, allow for free exchanges, and encourage competition. In such situations, decisions of rationally self-interested individuals would result, as if led by "an invisible hand" in Adam Smith's terms, in the maximum satisfaction of individual happiness.
Current free-market economics advises us that the most efficient economy is structured according to the principles of free market capitalism. This requires that business managers, in turn, should seek to maximize profits. This idea is central to one common perspective on corporate social responsibility. By pursuing profits, business ensures that scarce resources go to those who most value them and thereby ensures that resources will provide optimal overall satisfaction. Thus, these economists see competitive markets as the most efficient means to the utilitarian end of maximizing happiness.
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Write a(n) e-mail message when you need a formal or written, formatted record of your internal communication. _________________________
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)
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