In Does Business Ethics Make Economic Sense?, Amartya Sen writes:
… there would tend to be some failure in resource allocation when the commodities produced are public goods or involve strong externalities. This can be taken either (1) as an argument for having publicly owned enterprises, which would be governed by principles other than profit maximization, or (2) as a case public regulations governing private enterprise, or (3) as establishing a need for the use of non-profit values - particularly of social concern- in private decisions (perhaps because of the goodwill that it might generate). Since public enterprises have not exactly covered themselves with glory in recent years, and public regulations- while useful- are sometimes quite hard to implement, the third option has become more important in public discussions.
- What does Sen mean by a values of “social concern”? What is Sen’s argument here? What is the conclusion of Sen’s argument? Its premises/reasons? Accurately and clearly explain Sen’s position.
- Do you agree with Sen’s position? Choose one of the following options:
(C) This is a good argument, and you, therefore, agree with Sen’s position, OR
(D) This is not a good argument, and you prefer some specific criticism or alternative view perhaps by one of the other philosophers we have discussed.