Government Assistance and the Free Market
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Proponents of a free market would argue that it is never appropriate for the government to step in to help save a declining company. However, this approach fails to take into account the fact that the government offers assistance to companies in a variety of different ways. International trade and the policies that the government follows there offers the most concrete example of how the government assists companies. There is considerable pressure on the United States government to be protective of its industries with regard to countries, such as Japan, which are highly protective of theirs. The tariffs that are levied on certain products and the taxes (such as excise taxes) that are placed on even domestic products are all examples of ways in which the government exerts pressure on the "free" market. The justification for these intervention is the preservation of American jobs, and this is one of the key criteria for the government stepping in directly. If a large number of jobs are at stake, and there is no other prospect for employment for those laid off, it makes sense for the government to step in to assist a company.The form of assistance can vary from company to company and industry to industry. Loan guarantees are perhaps the most beneficial form of assistance because these are not simply "handouts" to the company. In this situation, the government guarantees loans that the company would otherwise be unable to secure from traditional lenders. If t
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, although the company has generally acted in ways that take some environmental factors into account. DuPont may find, for example, that it should shift out of high-sulfur coal production and into low-sulfur production even if the Clean Air Act does not require this because long-term, the public is likely to want to see a shift toward cleaner burning fuels even if industry protests (Hamilton, 1997, p. 140). DuPont may also realign its focus so that in addition to putting money into research and development, it also puts money into producing new products (and changing its manufacturing processes for existing products) to be more environmentally sound. This may cause a downturn in profits initially, but gives the company additional public relations material which can be used to build market share.
Opportunities associated with the Clean Air Act come primarily from DuPont's size and its ability to bring more research and development funds to bear than the competition. DuPont can enter markets with "green" products more effectively than the competition, and it can change from high-sulfur coal (for example) to low-sulfur coal. As the company successfully develops products that are more environmentally sound, it can use that fact
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Business Journal, Air Act, Benefits Management, OSHA-compliant EEOC, , Social Security, Dow Corning, Penn Central, Railway Age, References Maurer, customer service, clean air act, air act, clean air, loan guarantees, software company, environmentally sound, sales tax, impact environment, research development, government step, customer service representatives, products environmentally sound, guarantees company's creditors, california sales tax,
Approximate Word count = 2990
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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