Lawful but awful 'legal corporate crimes'

Abstract

By concentrating on what is officially defined as illegal or criminal, an even more serious threat to society is left out. This threat is caused by a host of company practices that are within the letter of the law and yet, they have multiple adverse social consequences. Quite often, the main reason why these practices remain legal and respected is that these industries are able to mobilize financial and other resources in order to avoid stricter regulation. The recent revelations regarding the tobacco industry illustrate the point. Tobacco is merely one of several industries that clash with the public interest. Additional illustrations can come from the gambling industry, weapons makers, private security firms, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology firms, offshore financial institutions, law firms, and antiquities traders. The argument of this paper is that we have set our priorities wrongly by overlooking crime and malpractices with far more negative consequences than the official crime problem. Instead of attempting to remedy this problem, we are moving in the opposite direction compounding the problems. The practices of many industries, in other words, are lawful but awful both for underprivileged people or countries and for global capitalism itself.