Consumer Regulation

    External Cost: External cost is a business term applying to such acts as dumping chemical waste in a river rather than paying to have it disposed safely. In this example, the business is able to avoid the cost of safe chemical waste removal by placing the cost (externalizing it) on society in the form of a polluted river.

    Consumer Regulation: The state in which consumers refuse to buy products in accordance with advertising, choosing instead to make their decision based on two factors: the quality in relation to the price of the product and the overall ethical standing of the companies manufacturing and distributing the product.

    Consumers would be able to make these informed decisions based on "Principle-Centered Consumer Reports" that would specialize in examining and giving ratings (perhaps on a scale of 1-10) for these two factors. The ethical standing would be based on employee working conditions, benefits to American industry, environmental impact, commitments to charity and any evidence of crime within the companies. If only 10% of the US population took part in consumer regulation, corporations would be forced to begin taking into considerations their "external costs".

    Ideally, the Principle-Centered Consumer Report companies would not be easily susceptible to bribes or other corruption since if their ratings were to differ drastically from those of the other major Consumer Report websites questions would immediately be raised, their reputation suffering. Furthermore, it would stand to reason that those heading and working for the consumer report organizations would themselves, be principle-centered and thus highly committed to both the preservation of American democracy and ethical behavior in general.