Court rejects $280 billion tobacco penalty

“A federal appeals court yesterday rejected the government’s attempt to recover $280 billion in past profits from the tobacco industry.” WaPo.

Maybe I don’t understand the finer legal points involved, but the lawsuit makes no sense from a common sense standpoint.

The alleged fraud committed by the tobacco companies occurred long ago. We would be punishing the company’s current shareholders for wrongs committed when the vast majority of these shareholders didn’t own any stock in the affected companies.

Putting an entire major industry out of business is a task that, in a government with a proper separation of powers, should be left to the legislature. It feels wrong for the executive branch to have so much power.

You can read some additional worthwhile commentary at GOP Bloggers.

Comments

[Apesnake]

To an extent I agree with the sentiment but doesn't a company's guilt remain with the company? I think that is one of the reasons enterprises incorporate to begin with; so the owners (later share holders) don't have to assume the debt liability if the company goes down the tubes. If you by into a company that has had a shady past and your investment goes bad is that not a case of buyer beware or at least an issue between the share holders and whoever committed and concealed the act before they invested (Fraud you say? Were they cutting the smokes with kitty litter to save money? I can't be bothered reading about it myself.)

Since shares are trading hands all the time you could always excuse a company for whatever they do. They could just put someone new in the 'Department of Evil Works' every 6 months and when you get caught just say it was the last guy. When you buy stock in a company you need to take their ethics into account as an intangible asset (or liability as the case may be).

[Scott Scheule]

From an economic standpoint, it makes perfect sense.

By punishing a company for wrongdoing, you raise the price of wrongdoing, thus cutting down on how much wrongdoing it done--other things being equal.

[Luboš Motl]

Hi Libertarian girl,

I sympathize with your common sense. Just for the sake of completeness, a rational argument against our common sense would go as follows:

The current shareholders are being punished for the fact that they bought a stock of a company that had done something wrong. They miscalculated the investment because they did not take the "ghosts" - the company's previous wrongdoings - into account.

I've included a link to your blog among the links on my blog motls.blogspot.com and modestly speaking, it is the 5th most important link pointing to your blog. Reciprocity would be appreciated. ;-)

All the best
Luboš

[Eric]

Here's the bottom line. In an appropriate free market that did not have intrusive government regulation this problem would be corrected, or not corrected, by the market. The issue that we are dealing with is not that tobacco is addictive (it is, but is not the problem inherently present) but rather that money, and the power it confers, is addictive. As long as the government regulates the market and intrudes on the actions of the market, corporations will be able to bring influence to bear via their money (as well as other special interests). If you want big tobacco, big medicine, etc. to not be able to bring influence to bear that ends up in intrusive and market disruptive legislation you have to eliminate government intrusion in the first place. The problem is not the money of special interests, rather it is the intrusion of government in the first place. It should be noted that a strict constructionist would find this sort of government intrusion to be unconstitutional.

Nice blog, I added you to both my "Libertarian & Jeffersonian Liberal Links" and my Blogroll. Keep it up.

You might enjoy my Why I'm a Liberal post.

[Wally]

You say, "It feels wrong for the executive branch to have so much power." From a truly libertarian perspective, it is wrong for Government, let alone any single branch of it, to have the power to "put an entire major industry out of business."

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