Outside SV, I have friends in manufacturing. They tell me stories like this all the time. They have to get this executive on their side to win this deal or that deal. I wouldn't dare try to defend the morality of it, but this is capitalism right? I personally believe the corrupt officials example you bring up is much worse than this though. One is often a life and death situation and the other is about protecting the interests of a successful multi-billion dollar corporation.
bogwog|4 years ago
Nope, just fraud. If a contractor makes a deal with the company, that's perfectly fine, normal capitalism. If they make a personal deal with an executive who is supposed to be representing the company in negotiations, then that's straight up bribery.
Capitalism certainly motivates people to commit this type of fraud, but that's why we have laws and regulations. Unregulated capitalism doesn't work.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen, or even that it isn't common (this whole comment section suggests that it's quite rampant), just that it's clearly wrong, both from a moral point of view, and because it can cause damage to shareholders. It can even hurt the larger market and society because it means that a company with a superior product/service/innovation will fail because their competitors aren't playing fair.
> the other is about protecting the interests of a successful multi-billion dollar corporation.
It's about protecting shareholders. What would the economy look like if the government didn't make an effort to prevent fraud? Investors wouldn't want to invest, companies wouldn't be able to find funding, etc.