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Responsibility Detrimental to
Stockholders
http://www.nysun.com/blogs/out- Eradicate extreme poverty &
and-about/200a/07/orchestra-of-
st-Iukes-tanglewood .html hunger Support Concern
Worldwide
THE j\IAN WIDELY RAII.ED AS THE "FATHER OF SUPPLY SIDE
economics," Arthur Laffer, yesterday bitterly denounced what has
become a fashionable notion in the business world - corporate social
responsibility, or CSR - as being detrimental to stockholders' interests
and hannful for corporate profitability.
"And like the mandarins of yesteryear, these NGOs would love to see
the expansion oftheirmandarinate."
There are an estimated 500,000 NGOs in the 191 member states of the
United Nations, with nearly 2,000 enjoying consultative status in the
UN's Economic and Social Council, or Ecosoc. Several informal studies
have calculated that Western foundations, mainly American ones,
typically give around $10 billion annually in grants to NGOs,
ostensibly for grassroots projects. But invariably the money gets
routed into large-scale demonstrations and protest movements against
Big Business, a bete noire of social activists, especially in the Third
World.
Dr. Laffer averred that he simply could not bring hinlself to share what
he characterized as the "deep pessimism" of social activists concerning
the motives and ability of contemporary corporations.
"We are living in absolutely spectacular times," Dr. Laffer said. "This
world is fantastic."
Part of his enthusiasm for Mr. Bush's tax cuts seemed predicated on
the fact that the president's economic policy is based on trickle-down
economics, known as supply-side stimulus. One of Mr. Bush's
predecessors, the late President Reagan, was also a subscnber to this
economic theory. It holds that the best way to stimulate the economy
is to cut taxes on upper-income earners. According to Dr. Laffer, when
the tax rates on the wealthy fall, the rich will increase their
investments in the economy.
According to one economic Web site, some economists said that "The
Laffer Curve" proved that most governments could raise more revenue
by cutting tax rates, an argument that was often cited in the 1980s by
the tax-cutting governments of President Reagan and Prime Minister
Thatcher of Britain. But Dr. Laffer also encountered criticism from
other economists that most countries were still at a point on the curve
at which raising tax rates would increase revenue.
Comment By Date
The Western world as a whole has done a great job of William Jan 22, 2008 10:10
compartmentalizing life, to the detriment of the quality ... Gall
[MOREl