Reply #30: Nope. That was glossed over as an assumption.

[Occam Bandage]

"Well, of course they'll do what's best for themselves and their markets in the long term. Doing otherwise would be stupid and short-sighted. And they're protected from doing stupid short-sighted things because of the...er...competition relying on short-term results? No, that makes no sense. Because of technological innovation...er...which is impossible to predict beyond the short-term, forcing companies to act only in the short...wait...that's wrong too. Because of the shareholders...who...er...who demand short-term dividends? Er...because...because of the invisible hand. That's it. Shut up. We're moving on. Did I mention I saw something really cool in Jakarta one time?"

That is where unchecked capitalism fails, and fails horribly, of course. It's all well and good over one quarter, or maybe even one year, but when businesses can only look three quarters ahead, we're fucked the minute the long-term health of society does not perfectly coincide with the short-term health of corporations.