Is Bribery Between Businesses Physical Force?
Posted by ddardick24 10 years, 2 months ago to Economics
This may end up being an easy answer and maybe I am overthinking this, but here is the scenario: Let's say a large business (business A) discovers an emerging source of competition (business B), and it wants to prevent business B from threatening their share of the market. Instead of improving quality and lowering costs, business A attempts to bribe any bank (or other source of loans) business B approaches to "persuade" that bank to never provide business B with capital, thereby hindering the competition. My question, therefore, asks whether or not this action of bribing would/should be considered physical force in a capitalist society. Perhaps I'm overthinking the issue and presenting an unlikely scenario, but I'm curious what others think, because I am divided. Please let me know if this scenario or question needs clarification.
It's not likely to last in a free market because it's bad business. Company B can just move on to the next bank. IF cronyism is involved, well, you are back at force. But the bank can refuse a loan to a potential customer for whatever reason it wants, including immoral reasons. Freedom of association. Now, if company A used fraud to get the bank to not loan to company B, that would be force. A force (against both the bank and company B) that is implied as opposed to an actual gun. You would be deliberately misleading the bank regarding Company B. But in the scenario dd refers us to, I still stick with no force.
Rand: "Fraud involves a similarly indirect use of force: it consists of obtaining material values without their owner’s consent, under false pretenses or false promises." "The Nature of Government," TVOS
It might fail under some understandings of the NAP, but under non-initiation of force guidelines for response of force meets the level of self defense.
Offering someone money to do or not do something is immral only because it is irrational. IT should not be immoral in any legal sense of the word. Think of it like this. I want to perform at halftime of the super bowl. I want you to choose me. I offer you money to make that offer to me. Until there is a contract that someone breaches the terms of, offering money is certainly not criminal. However, US law says it is a tort issue, not a criminal issue. But if we were discussing rules governing pure capitalism, I would say, it is not force, therefore not actionable.